Wiebe's Wanderings: Petrified Forest and Painted Desert

Sunday we had a relatively short drive of just over 3 hours to a Passport America RV park called Sun Valley RV. One thing about staying at Passport America parks, they are cheaper with the 50% discount however they are not filled with amenities and are usually older. Many of the parks, like Enchanted Trails in Albuquerque are fine for overnight or a few days stopover. The Sun Valley RV park was one we would certainly avoid next time. The park is under new management and they have their work cut out for themselves. It is located almost right on the shoulder of the interstate so the truck traffic was loud and non-stop. The facilities were old, the water hardly drinkable and our site wasn't that level but the kicker was the persistent smell of sewer. We stayed 2 nights but only so we could tour the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. The 28 mile drive through this area took us about 6 hours with stops for pictures, hikes and a picnic lunch.

The Petrified Forest contains petrified trees and skeletal remains of animals from some 225 million years ago. How long ago was 225 million years. Well, T Rex walked the earth some 135 million years later. While hard to imagine, the desert grassland we see now was a lush tropical rainforest way back then. This area was part of the continent known as Pangea and located 10 degrees north of the equator. Think Costa Rica. When Pangea broke apart the North American continent drifted north to its current location.

The giant conifers, 180 feet high, typical to the area remain in the form of fossilized tree trunks. The petrification process results in the wood being replaced by quartz and replicating the look of the wood. The various colours are the result of various impurities in the quartz. Iron results in red, yellow, orange and purple. Manganese results in black and grey. Pure quartz remains white.

Our neighbours at Sun Valley

Another neighbour, although this one was a halloween prop. Had me going for a few minutes though.

Painted Desert

More painted desert

Studebaker staged on the old road bed of Route 66

Archeologists have examined the remains of over 1000 ancient settlements like this one and have found that people lived in ruins like this for over 13,000 years.

Huge ravens showed up at each roadside stop waiting for handouts.

This is called Newspaper Rock. It contains over 650 images and have been dated to 2,000 years ago.

The trees look to be cut by a chain saw. I suspected it was Paul Bunyan but apparently settling of the heavy quartz logs causes cracks and eventually they break along the shortest distance much like a brittle piece of chalk.