April 14, 2010 - The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Parks

Our journey today took us to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Parks.  We started at the north entrance to the park with a visit to the visitor center and museum.  The two parks are connected by a 28 mile scenic route with stops, overlooks, hiking, etc.  The Painted Desert is in the north and the Petrified Forest in the south.

A little background:

“The Painted Desert encompasses over 93,500 acres and stretches over 160 miles. It begins about 30 miles north of Cameron, Arizona near the southeastern rim of the Grand Canyon to the Petrified Forest about 26 miles east of Holbrook, AZ. Along the way, it grazes the backyard of the Wupatki National Monument Indian Ruins. The Painted Desert derives its name for the multitude of colors ranging from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant colors of red, orange and pink. It is a long expanse of badland hills and buttes and although barren and austere, it is a beautiful landscape of a rainbow of colors.

It took millions upon millions of years for nature to create this natural canvas of unimaginable design that some describe it as a multi-colored layered cake. The Painted Desert draws upon the earth’s indecisive nature. From shifts in the earth’s crust brought about by temperamental volcanoes and earthquakes to complete inundation by fresh and sea waters alike, a veritable host of elements have breathed life into this area. Colorful sediments of bentonite clay and sandstone, stacked in elegant layers, feed off the setting Arizona sun in an ever-changing display of colorful splendor.

The Petrified Forest National Park, which also sits about 25 miles east of Holbrook, Arizona, is next to the Painted Desert. The handiwork of erosion, water, and silica, the remnants of this once magnificent pine forest have taken millions of years to resurface, and sparkle like so many diamonds. Once the stomping ground of dinosaurs and other prehistoric residents, the Petrified Forest continually reveals the skeletons of its stormy past. Holding the largest known concentration of solar calendars, this National Park also provides the opportunity to explore the lives of the ancient Indian tribes who once wandered this area and made it their home. Sites such as the Puerco Pueblo and Agate House are standing monuments of the ingenuity of the ancient tribes.

While life went on here amongst the painted peaks, modern civilization didn’t begin to discover its existence until the 16th century. Spanish explorers who passed through are said to have named it "El Desierto Pintado", when confronted with the colorful horizon. From that point on, with the ancestral inhabitants long vanished, a variety of humans came and went, and in the 1800’s, military personnel, ranchers and tourists would venture on the scene. In 1906, after years of looting the finite supply of petrified wood, selected areas were designated as the original Petrified Forest National Monument. Gradually more acreage was purchased and protected under both the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert names.

One such location is the Painted Desert Inn, built in 1924 by Herbert Lore. Originally designed for purposes of lodging and other tourist services, such as meals and shopping, the inn was purchased by the National Monument in 1936. After a brief period of closing during World War II, the Fred Harvey Company assumed management responsibilities in 1947. A short time later, the famous architect of many Grand Canyon attractions such as the Desert View Watchtower, and Hopi House, Mary Colter was brought in to redesign portions of the Inn. With progress comes destruction, however, and the Inn was closed when I-40 took over for Route 66. Abandoned and decaying for 27 years, this desert oasis faced total demise twice before being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Today, Painted Desert Inn has been restored and serves as a tourist point with a gift shop and bookstore, but no longer provides lodging facilities.”

And now come along for the picture journey:

The Painted Desert:

 

 

The Painted Desert Inn (we took a Ranger Led History Tour of the Inn – love the Ranger talks):

 

These were beautiful:

Hand painted ceiling tile – WOW!:

 

More Painted Desert:

 

The Puerco Pueblo Ruins (One of our hikes):

 

Petroglyphs:

 

Take a look at the bird carrying a child in its peak.  There is a story told that the mothers would tell their children that if they were not good, the Boogie Bird would come for them.  (Not too much different from today and the Boogey Man – LOL).

 

 

Notice the color changes from the ones above.  This was caused by the ground water levels and the amount of iron and magnesium in this area.

Our first views of petrified logs:

More info on the petrified wood:

Petrified wood often has many of the same colors as a rainbow! Petrified wood found in the park and the surrounding region is made up of almost solid quartz. Each piece is like a giant crystal, often sparkling in the sunlight as if covered by glitter. The rainbow of colors is produced by impurities in the quartz, such as iron, carbon, and manganese. Over 200 million years ago, the logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed to a process that would now take centuries. Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material as it broke down over time. Sometimes crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. Here large jewel-like crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed. Most of the petrified trees have been given the name Araucarioxylon arizonicum. Woodworthia and Schilderia are two other species occurring in small quantities in the park. Though only seven species of tree have been identified through petrified wood, over 200 species of plants have currently been identified from other Triassic fossils, such as leaves, pollen, and spores. Petrified trees today lie strewn across clay hills and within cliff faces; each log broken into large segments. The quartz within the petrified wood is hard and brittle, fracturing easily when subjected to stress. During the gradual uplifting of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 60 million years ago, the still buried petrified trees were under so much stress they broke like glass rods. The crystal nature of the quartz created clean fractures, evenly spaced along the tree trunk, giving the appearance today of logs cut with a chainsaw.

And a link for more info:  http://www.nps.gov/pefo/faqs.htm

 

Now look at the sand formations in the picture below.   As the weather erodes these formations, the petrified logs appear and fall to the floor below.  Because they are mostly quartz and very brittle, any weather event will fracture them.

  

And another log appearing – isn’t this fascinating!:

 

The Jasper Forest (notice the sandstone formations and the logs on the floor below:

 

And the Crystal Forest (Another hike):

And take a look at the inside of the petrified logs – oh my! – the colors are beautiful!!!

 

 

The pictures from today just do not do this place justice – it was AWESOME!!

So that was our exciting day – :-)).   We have decided to stay here one more day and maybe do some of the sites on Route 66 so stay tuned.