Thursday September 14th 2017

I’m glad I wasn’t moving the Motorhome today. The wind picked up this morning and blew strong all day. The wind combined with the threat of thunderstorms almost kept me at home today, but late this morning I set out for the Petrified Forest National Park. It is about 20 miles east on Interstate 40 from my campsite in Holbrook.

Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park.

Painted Desert

Painted Desert

Painted Desert

I started at the north end of the park and traveled to the south end. At the north end of the park is the Painted Desert. This is an area that erosion over time and up lifting of the land has exposed many different layers of earth. Each of the layers are of different colors and shades. The result is an area with limited vegetation that has many different layers of color. The Painted Desert is interesting and certainly has many different colors. If this was your first exposure to some of the natural formations of the west it would be very impressive. Travelers coming from the east in the late 1800s on the railroad or later on Route 66 would be awe struck. If you are traveling from the west or northwest, as I am, you’ve seen areas like Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon and the Grand Canyon. I don’t think the Painted Desert compares well, but I’ve seen a lot of rocks lately.

The Painted Desert was an added bonus for me. I didn’t know it was part of the Petrified Forest National Park. It was not until I reached mile seventeen on the scenic drive that I saw my first petrified log. From that point south there were many areas of petrified wood. The color of the logs is dependent on the minerals they absorbed while buried under ground for 225 million years. The trees were part of a lush rainforest during the Triasic Period when this area of land was located at the latitude of current day Costa Rica. Continental drift and other forms of upheaval have brought the petrified forest here. As the weather and other events erodes and shifts the ground more petrified logs and fossils are exposed.

The “boulders” are petrified logs.

Close-up of a piece of petrified wood.

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The weather threatened all day. It was hard to hold the camera steady in the strong wind to take pictures. A couple of storms with lightning could be seen to the north, but all that I experienced were a few brief attempts at showers. The wind continued until darkness arrived. In this area that’s 7PM. Just another indicator of falls arrival.