April 6-12, 2003
Copper Breaks State Park, Quanah, TX - by Lynda DeGroot
On Sunday, April 6th, four ambitious Trail Tamers (Galen, Stewart, Mary Zeitler, Jim McKinney, and yours truly) headed off to Copper Breaks State Park in north Texas...the first time any CTTT crew has been in that part of the our state!
Upon pulling into Quanah and heading down Highway 6, we wondered what kind of park would be awaiting our arrival out in that flat to gently rolling ranch land with few trees. After reaching our destination, we were surprised to see an interesting change in the terrain. We drove down the park road into somewhat of a valley with a small 60 acre lake that feeds into the Pease River, and a really nice campground full of tall cottonwoods and other trees. We were allowed to camp in the “day use” area near a screened pavilion in which we set up our kitchen.
After pitching our tents, we checked out the park and found that it was really nice and very unique. It’s amazing how much wildlife we saw! A bobcat ran across the road in front of our vehicle and a couple of roadrunners were near our camp. The lake was a stopping off place for egrets, herons, ducks, and more. The park host showed us a large pond upstream from the lake that had a huge beaver lodge below it. We learned that the Copper Breaks name comes from the “breaks” in the land and the bands of greenish-colored clay throughout the red sandstone. The green color is from traces of copper, but there is not enough to be mined (thankfully).
Our week began by cutting back seriously overgrown grasses, juniper and other vegetation from a nature trail that is popular with hikers. While Jim and Galen were weed-wacking, Mary followed right along wielding the loppers, and I helped the park manager and his assistant tackle those overly-abundant junipers with chain saws. After cutting the juniper, we all pitched in to drag the branches back down to the trailhead to be loaded into an old dump truck and hauled to a field by the maintenance buildings. In all, we cut 17 truckloads of juniper! We also managed to set 10 out of 23 sign posts in that rocky ground before running out of time.
Our day off (Friday) was totally planned by the park staff! In the morning, we toured the museum and heard stories about Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche war chief, and his mother Cynthia Ann Parker; we fed some longhorns that are part of the state herd descended from those brought over by the Spanish; we watched a flint-knapping demonstration by a man who is an authentic chuck-wagon cook at a local ranch; and the park manager's family and co-workers prepared a wonderful dinner for us topped off by fresh-out-of-the-oven blackberry cobbler! After that, we were shown the beautiful Bull Canyon (with about a 200 ft. drop) and hiked the Rocky Ledge trail; and as if that wasn't enough, we were sent to a higher campground where the Dallas Astronomical Society had set up several huge telescopes for us to view the night sky. We were treated to our very own "Star Party!"
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