Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park

Boy, did we get an early start this morning.  The park opened at 7 AM and we were hitched up and pulling through the gates at 7:05.  We had two motives for our early start.  First, this rugged landscape is best viewed when the sun is low on the horizon, either early morning or late afternoon.  Secondly, we had a 150 mile drive to Williams after touring the park.

Petrified forest within the Painted Desert, offers a glimpse of a climate which existed some 225 million years ago.  At that time, scientists believe the earth’s landmass was a single huge continent.  During that time, this area of Arizona was located near the equator.  That tropical climate provided the conditions suitable for the growth of huge trees.  During a massive flood, these trees were toppled, became waterlogged, sank rather than floated, and eventually became covered by silt.  As time passed, silica replaced every cell of the fallen tree and turned it to stone.  This “petrified forest” lay buried for millions of years until erosion unearth what we see today.

During the late 1800s, the forest was nearly picked clean by those looking for precious gems.  Petrified wood was hauled out by the train load until 1906 when Teddy Roosevelt made it a National Monument.  According to the short film we viewed this morning, the Park still looses about a ton of petrified wood to “thieves” each month.

We started our tour at the south entrance and worked our way north to the Visitor Center stopping at most of the overlooks and taking one short hike through the “Crystal Forest”.  Most of the area along this 28-mile drive looks like a moonscape or something out of a science fiction movie.  Rugged and desolate, but at the same time quite beautiful with the simmering rock that looks like tree trunks and the vivid colors in the layers of soil.

We stopped at the Visitor Center to watch the film, peruse the gift shop, eat lunch, and torque the wheels.  The 150-mile drive from Petrified Forest to Williams was pleasant enough.  We only had to stop once for torqueing (is that a word?)  As we gained elevation, we also gained trees.  Our favorite part of the trip was passing through Flagstaff.  At an elevation of over 7000 feet, we saw trees.  Being tree lovers from the east, we were so excited.

We are parked tonight at a small campground in Williams—Canyon Gateway RV Park.  I haven’t had a chance to do any investigating so will have a more formal review tomorrow.

We are undecided about our plans for tomorrow.  We are anxious to get to Grand Canyon, a mere 40 miles away, but we all need a rest day.  Grocery shopping before we get too far away from civilization would probably be a good thing, also.  So, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.