Arizona's Painted Desert

Two hundred twenty million years ago the land now called Arizona sat near earth's equator. Instead of deserts it hosted dinosaurs in a tropical rainforest environment. When the forest's giant trees toppled they marinated in mineral rich water before eventually crystalizing underneath the pressure of sediments and time. Erosion now again reveals these massive tree trunk gemstones.

I pause at the description of Petrified Forest National Park as a "forest." It once was forest, but a forest to me calls to mind a collection of upright trees rather than felled ones. Name aside, the stumps are only the part of the appeal. Arizona's Painted Desert (not to be confused with Oregon's) sets the scene for the petrified wood. The minerals that infused the trees are still present in the soils and streak the layered dirt piles, arroyos, and hoodoos with a spectrum of colors.

My visit to Petrified Forest on Christmas eve was a two and a half hour stopover between Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I spent the prior night, and Mesa, Arizona, where I would spend the next few. I was headed to the desert to meet up with my family for the holidays. They also were driving so we met in Santa Fe and stayed at the historic La Fonda Inn just off the square where the Old Spanish Trail ends.

Petrified Forest National Park I learned when I visited contains some 50,000 acres of wilderness--land with no trails where hikers can wander aimlessly (or purposefully), occasionally stumbling upon artifacts of the prehistoric. I ventured about a half mile into this wilderness but would like to come back and go further when I have more time, the temperature is warmer, and the ground is not quite as muddy.