Arizona Petrified Forest and some more Petroglyphs

I made it out of New Mexico today and into Arizona, took a stop at Petrified Forest National Park and a couple of other cool places. Check out the photos...

Welcome to Arizona!

The southern part of the painted desert in Petrified Forest National Park. This one's for you, mom! :)

More painted desert.

And more...

And more...

They even have a pueblo site; Puerco Pueblo that has some petroglyphs. From the National Park Brochure..." Stories abound in the Petrified Forest. Evidence of ealy humand occupation is readily visible. Sites thoughout the park tell of human history in the area for more than 10,000 years (I'd say Pre-Clovis, Tressa). We do not know the entire story (as usual). But there were separate occupations, a cultural transition from wandering families to settled agricultural villages (just like we learned in New World Prehistory)-or pueblos-and trading ties with surrounding villages (like Chaco, etc.) Although evidence of these early people in the park fades about 1400 (as is with most of the pueblo sites, most likely due to extreme long-lasting drought), their story is still told by their dwellings, pot shards, and petroglyphs."

These were a bit harder to see and there was a large fence protecting the area. There was also a big sign that said "Bee's might be swarming in this area, proceed with caution"...

Feets.

It's interesting to see how these images are carved into areas of the rock that are blackened with patination (hehe-DJ). But thankfully, due to awesome preservation, they seem to last a while...I mean, there are also trees laying around in this area from the a Triassic forest, so...

I like the bird with the little guy in its mouth. I'd say this has something to do with the ubiquitous thunderbird myth, common in indigenous American cosmology. 

More petroglyphs.

Here is the small(ish) pueblo where adjacent to where the petroglyphs are located.

Apparently the rocks in the next photo are covered in petroglyphs. The sign said that it is one of the largest concentrations of images ever found. Saldly, I couldn't see any of them, and you couldn't even get close to the rocks, as Park Ranger Bob had already been bitching at some kids for climbing out on one of the rocks for a photo...

Petroglyphs at the Newspaper rock site...

Let me know if you can see any...

This is a part of the painted desert called the "tepees." The whole area reminded me of Badlands National Park and apparently, fossils turn up everywhere.

That's a really old, petrified tree. :) From the park's brochure..."This high, dry grassland was once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams. Tall, stately conifer trees grew along the banks. Crocodile-like reptilians, giant amphibians, and small dinosaurs lived among a variety of ferns, cycads, and other plants and animals known only as fossils today. The trees, Araucarioxylon, Woodworthia, Schilderia, and others, fell, and swollen steams washed them into adjacent floodplains. A mix of silt, mud, and volcanic ash buried the logs. This sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs' decay. Silica-laden groundwater seeped throught he logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually, the silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood. Over the 225 million years since the trees lived, the continents moved to their present positions, and this region was uplifted. As a result the climate changed, and the tropical environment became today's grassland. Over time, wind and water wore away the rocks layers and exposed fossilized ancient plants and animals. The hills will yield more fossils as weathering sculpts the Painted Desert's soft sedimentary rock."

Remnants of a 225 million year-old forest.

From the park's brochure..."Petrified wood's varied colors came from minerals in the silica-saturated waters. Iron, carbon, manganese, and sometimes cobalt and chromium produced patterns and blends of yellow, red, black, blue, brown, white, and pink. Petrified wood is surprisingly heavy, weighing nearly 200 pounds per cubic foot, and its hardness is seven on a ten-point scale."

That's a really old dead tree....cool, huh? :D

I knocked on this one, and yes, they are very hard...haha!

Pretty huh? I was told that petrified wood is found throughout the world, but Arizona is really the only place one can find such specimen streaked with the brilliant colours you see here. I could've easily picked up this piece, as it was only a bit larger than my hand, but... (from the park's brochure...) "Do not take even the smalled piece of petrified wood from the park. Multiplied by the hundreds of thousands of visitors here every year, the small pieces stolen from the park can quickly amount to tons...It is illegal to collect or remove any petrified wood from the park. Samples of the same quality from the same deposits-but collected outside the park-may be obtained from nearby commercial sources. Petrified wood slabs are cut with giant, oil-cooled diamond saws. Then the are ground with silicon carbide grit to smooth the saw marks and roughness. This is followed by hours of polishing. Artisans fashion jewelry and other decorative objects from polished pieces." Conveniently, as soon as you leave the park, there are two rock shops that sell every piece of petrified wood (along with other rock shop extravaganza, even Pseudo-Navajo rugs made in India!) and many other of these places exist along the route leaving the park. And yes, I bought a few pieces and they are beautiful. :)

Some dinosaurs along Historic Route 66.

This is where I stopped for lunch. It was a lovely little spot on Route 66 that may or may not have had the best food in town...though I must say, the BLT I had was pretty awesome!

Just for proof. Yes, I did drive a bit on HWY 66. Another dream come true. :)

I didn't read much into this, but apparently NASA used the giant crater just outside of Flagstaff for some operations. I just wanted to see the crater...

This one is for you, Mom...as I know you always wanted to be an Astronaut. :)

The humongous meteor crater right outside of Flagstaff. This this was enormous...they said something about it being 2.5 miles wide...!!?!

And I would certainly believe it. The NASA base is located in the center and there is life-size image of an astronaut waving next to an american flag...they provided telescopes for proportion...I can't even see it in this image.

Maybe you can? :P

Finally, Hualapai Peak, 8, 417 feet at the tip-top. The town I'm staying in tonight, Kingman is just north of the peak and there are stunning views all around. :)

I'm going to Santa Barbara tomorrow to see some of the Chumash cave paintings also featured in my book, Painted Dreams by Thor Conway. Jack is an even happier man. More to come soon! Keep in touch! Peace and love to all.