Last stop in the park was the Painted Desert, which is this massive expanse of stratified red stuff that covers several states. Supposedly it’s one of the more impressive features of the park but I was pretty worn out by the time we got here. So I took a look, tried to say hello to some Texans who gave blank stars back at me, then went back to the car.
I’m sure the place would have been more spectacular during sunset, but we had places to go and no time to dwadle!
Next on our list was Crystal Forest. This place used to be the home of many petrified logs in a variety of colours. But the best looking ones were hauled away by the first visitors before the whole region became protected…so we only got to see the specimens deemed not worth taking (or too heavy).
Still it was cool to see a few up close.
Our next stop was Agate Bridge, which involved backtracking 15 miles towards the entrance. This is the kind of smart planning that happens when everyone in the car is groggy! By now it’s only about 8:00am and but the light is already super bright.
Agate Bridge was nothing special. It’s just a petrified log that formed a bridge when all the stuff under it washed out.
I made up for my disappointment by climbing a nearby tree that wasn’t petrified.
So we got up early to go to Petrified National Forest. We were the only ones on the road and probably the first ones to the park…with the exception of the park rangers who probably live in the park.
Neither of us were awake for the first picture.
One thing about being at dry and high elevations (6000 feet) early in the morning is that it gets really cold. We were both shivering for this picture.
At least it wasn’t overly bright yet.