Forests of Stone

The Giant Logs Trail @ Petrified Forest National Park  

Here it is, Wednesday, and I am still rambling on about my vacation even though: (1) I’ve been home six days; (2) I’ve attended three meetings; and (3) I’ve already had to put out a couple of fires at work. Honestly, the semester isn’t looking that promising, but I’ve decided to stick to my guns about working at home on Tuesdays or else I will never get my conference paper done in time for my trip to Chicago. Added to that, I am writing an article with a student *and* trying to revise an article that I hate. I suspect that by the end of the semester I will be: (1) on the edge of a nervous breakdown; (2) nursing an ulcer; or (3) a 3-drinks-a-day alcoholic. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I have to say that the only thing I am really looking forward to this semester are my March trip to Mexico and my May trip to the other side of the pond. But, I digress. This blog entry is about my trip to Arizona; it’s not supposed to be another bitchfest about life in the professoriate!

Of all the places that we went during our vacation, I loved the Petrified Forest most of all. We had originally scheduled our trip to this National Park for earlier in the trip, but the weather in Texas put us so far behind that we just couldn’t make it to the park before it closed. I was kinda’ sad because I was certain that it would be closed on New Year’s Day, like so many other NPS sites. Fortunately, we had stopped at Northern New Mexico Visitor Center and the docent (is that what they are called?) advised us to call the park because “it’s so popular, I find it hard to believe that it would be closed.” Good advice. When we arrived at the Kampground, I used the free wifi to check … and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was open. Hot Damn!

Of course, when we left the Phoenix area, we didn’t drive straight to the National Park. The Coach wanted to stand on the corner in Winslow, AZ, so we headed up towards Flagstaff, then east down I-40. I have to admit that we saw some spectacular sites along interstate to Flagstaff including the scary town where everything looked exactly the same. Yes, it was a Stepford Wife kind of subdivision! We had a bitchin’ hard time finding a gas station because the signs were low and the buildings blended into each other. I suspect that people in that town have a hard time finding their homes when they are drunk. {snicker} Okay, that was a little sarcastic … but we really did see some beautiful scenery along the way (mountains, mesas, etc.). The one thing that did stun me was that I never had a chance to actually take a lot of pictures of saguaro cacti because the desert landscape shifted so quickly.

So, we got off at Winslow and drove a little ways on historic Route 66, completely missing the little park we were looking for. Luckily Winslow is a tiny town, so we turned around and went back for the requisite pictures. I think it took all of 20 minutes and that was because we were competing for pictures with another couple.

It took a while, but we finally got to the Petrified Forest, entering at the Rainbow Forest entrance. Yeah, I didn’t realize that the road through the park was not a loop road — there are both north and south entrances. If I had known that, I would have made The Coach stop at the cheesy stores right outside the southern entrance so I could have taken pictures of the dinosaur statutes. Oh well.

The Coach and I spent a great deal of time on the Giant Logs trail. You see, we always pick up the self-guided tour booklets and read about every stop. Yes, I know. We are nerds. Plus, I was really into photography mode — in fact, I took so many pictures that I ran out of space on my memory card! I couldn’t help myself; I just found the tree to stone process to be fascinating. I mean, here we were, looking at trees that were over 200 million years old! And, being the smart-ass that I am, I couldn’t help but make a snarky comment about how the visitors to this museum would probably be dismayed by the time frames discussed at the Petrified Forest.

I can’t say the visit was all smiles and rainbows. I admit that I get annoyed by stupid, inconsiderate people … and the park has apparently had its fair share of them in the past. When we watched the orientation movie at the first visitor center, it really stressed the fact that it is illegal to remove the petrified wood from the park. Okay, the movie was a bit dorky (i.e., the traffic stop scene was a bit much) and caused me to snicker a bit under my breath, but it was a bit alarming when you are handed the materials to report thieves as you drive through the park. Disenchanted, Undercover Environmental Cop? Good grief.

Yeah, people are selfish jackasses. When we stopped at the Crystal Forest, that became abundantly clear. You see, the Crystal Forest was named for the shards of petrified wood that covered the area. I suspect that at one time the whole “forest” really shimmered in the sunlight. Today, it’s not nearly as impressive because people have decimated the area. Fortunately, we did not witness anyone breaking the law, although it did feel like we were being stalked along the trails by Oklahoma State fans! {LOL}

Blue Mesa Trail @ Petrified Forest National Park

I do wish that we had more time to check out the park because I would have liked to have hiked down into the Blue Mesa area. My pictures just don’t do justice to these mesas. I’ve never seen anything that has struck me as so beautiful in the other national parks I have visited. I can’t explain it; I just like desert landscapes and these mesas are so different from the red-hued ones you see elsewhere. Maybe I am just destined to retire to the southwest?