The Snow Comes

A few years ago, I posted a snow photo and mentioned that a rare snow had come to Amarillo.  I caught some shade from some folks from Amarillo who assured me that snow was not rare in Amarillo.  I have lived in places where there is snow on the ground from October till May.  Since living in Amarillo, it normally snows 2 or three times a year and the snow only lasts a day or two.  To me, that makes snow in Amarillo rare.  This year was an exeption.  We got several snows that lasted a good long while.  The oddest had in one week tornados, 90 degree heat and what the weather service called a blizzard.  

Cows on HWY 207

Blizzard or not, I was not going to miss the opportunity to photography the high plains covered in snow.  Those landscapes I am so familiar with became allien to me.  The grasslands were covered in white.  Now I was safe.  I am very used to driving in such weather having lived in Alaska, Montana, Washington state.  In fact what the weather service called a blizzard for Texas was par for the season in places I have lived and often had to drive to work is such weather. None the less I took precautions.  I had blankets and food and water in case I got stranded.  June teased me that I could have lived at week in my truck if I had to.  Me and the big 4 wheel drive Nissan Titan took to the roads with extra weight in the bed for good measure.

HWY 207 heading south from Claude, Texas

To say that I am experienced in driving in such weather isn't to say that it was not dangerous.  I rarely got above 40 miles an hour the whole trip.  But the trip was worth is as I saw some of Texas in ways I have never seen with the ice and snow.

A snow scene on HWY 207

My Journey took me from Amarillo, to Claude, 30 miles east of Amarillo.  Then I took HWY 207 South.  This hwy is a treasure to me.  It goes through a private section of Palo Duro Canyon all the way to Lake MacKenzie and more.  From there I went past Caprock Canyon and back up to Shamrock and Back to Amarillo.  The trip was a few hundred miles and was at times white knuckle but the photos were worth it to me.

Lake Mackenzie, Texas on HWY 207, south of Claude, Texas

Some of my motivation for the trip was Caprock Canyon State Park.  It has bison commonly called buffalo.  I have always wanted a Buffalo (they ain't called bison nickles) photo of the herd in the snow.  But it wasn't to be as the State Park was closed due to the record snow fall.  

The Mesa at the bottom of Tule Canyon on HWY 207

So I thought about what other unique opportunities would the snow afford me.

Silverton, Texas

That is when the thought hit me, Route 66 in the snow.  I turned north from Silverton, Texas to Shamrock, Texas which is the first city on Route 66 in Texas.  And those photos will wait till next months blog.  Till then follow us on Facebook for all the latest pixel chases!