Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park, Dec. 22, 2012

We left Hagerman NWR on the Friday before Christmas to begin our two-day journey to the state of Arizona, where we would work and play through the end of February. En route, and conveniently located on I-40 in Arizona, is the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park. We were able to enjoy and afternoon of exploring at this fascinating place, with petrified wood/logs as well as petroglyphs (ancient etchings from earlier cultures) found on rocks throughout the park. We were really happy that a stop here was possible during our westward travel. The photo above was our first peak of snow, on the mountains of New Mexico, just west of Albuquerque. The photo on the left is our first glimpse of the Painted Desert.

This is a museum within the Park. It used to be a hotel and restaurant and is designed in the native adobe-style architecture.

Now you can start to see the petrified wood as we entered the southern end of the park loop.

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.