July 19, 2017

Petrified Forest: Maybe It's the Moon (9 of 9)

Our last stop was Petrified Forest National Park.  Compared to the other parks, this was probably our least favorite, but it was unique and worth it all the same.  If we could do it again, we would consider starting with this park and going in the reverse order.  The town near Petrified Forest is pretty old, small and run down and our RV park was nice, but nothing to write home about.  We experienced a couple of strong thunderstorms while at the park which were awesome to watch!  We did a few hikes and really enjoyed the scenery along the way.  
     
During the Late Triassic, trees accumulating in river channels in what became the park were buried periodically by sediment containing volcanic ash. Groundwater dissolved silica from the ash and carried it into the logs, where it formed quartz crystals that gradually replaced the organic matter.  We loved examining each tree we came across.  They were beautiful! 
    
Petrified Forest
   
 
Route 66 used to run through the park.
 
We saw several dust devils, which were pretty neat!
 
Petroglyphs 
   
   
   
Ruins
   
 
Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock
    
 
The colors were amazing.
   
   
    
      
 
We hiked Blue Mesa Trail which was awesome!  We felt like we were on the moon!
   
    
   
     
    
    
   
   
   
   
   
    
Agate Bridge
   
 
Jasper Forest
   
 
Crystal Forest Trail
   
   
   
   
    
   
 
There were no clouds or trees to create shade so we set up an umbrella for our hat refusing daughter.
   
   
   
   
   
Giant Logs Loop
 
We loved these little lizards.
   
 
Alex liked the red and black trees... forever part of the wolfpack!
 
Agate House Trail ends with a partially reconstructed Puebloan house made entirely of petrified wood.  It was neat!
    
    

No comments:

Post a Comment