Petrified Forest National Park, Part II

Click here for Part I.

Even before we'd seen much actual fossilized wood, we loved Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert vistas, the ancient petroglyphs, and the extended photo session with a Sonoran Collared Lizard were all fantastic. As we drove through the park's southern section, we were finally beginning to encounter the features the park was named for.

I always love seeing how life finds a way even in harsh environments, from the edges of Alaska's Harding Ice Field to the heart of the Arizona desert.

Agate Bridge is a 110-foot long petrified log that was reinforced with concrete in 1917 by well-intended conservationists.  Their work may have been noble in purpose, but for me it completely ruins the scene.  I'd prefer if the structure had been left to whatever fate nature had in store for it.

We hit the jackpot at Crystal Forest, home of a 3/4-mile loop trail that winds through a landscape littered with petrified wood.  And instead of simply seeing it from a distance, the path lets you get up close and personal with the colorful specimens.

Quartz deposits formed in some of the logs as they petrified, giving the area its name.

The rich colors come from minerals that infused the wood when the ancient trees toppled over into a river.

More lizards made their homes among the fossilized logs.

This lizard was sporting a tail nearly twice as long as its body!

The rainbow hues really were unique.  My eye was always drawn to the logs that had the greatest variety of colors.

One last lizard bidding me farewell at the end of the trail, and it was time to get out of the sweltering sun and back into our air-conditioned car!

I don't know why I'm still surprised when I visit a national park for the first time and it exceeds my expectations.  And yet I am, even though it's happened so many times that it's essentially the norm.  Such was the case again with Petrified Forest National Park.  Even in hundred-degree weather, it proved to be still another amazing showcase of the natural splendor this country has!