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!

Petrified Forest National Park, Part I

Our big family summer vacation this year was a road trip through Arizona and Utah, with four National Parks which I'd never visited before on the docket. If I ever doubt that my family loves me, I just need to remember that they all agreed to do this in triple-digit temperatures.

We drove 11 hours our first day to Gallup, New Mexico, setting ourselves up to make a nice stop at Petrified Forest National Park on Day 2. The park is fortuitously located directly along our route to the Grand Canyon, which made it a no-brainer to be one of our destinations.

I-40 cuts directly through the park.  Interestingly, the northern section doesn't actually have any petrified wood.  But it does have stunning views of the Painted Desert, like this one from Tiponi Point.

Common Ravens were our constant companions, like this one at Chinde Point.  I love the iridescent effect in their feathers when the light hits them just right.

At the intersection of the park road and Old Route 66 there sits a rusted 1932 Studebaker.  I took a lot of different pictures of it, but like this black-and-white close-up of one of its old mechanisms the best.

Puerco Pueblo has a number of rocks with petroglyphs that may date back more than 600 years.

The petroglyphs held my mild interest until I noticed a small Collared Lizard.  I wasn't even sure it was a Collared Lizard at first, because I'm used to seeing them with a lot of blue and green on their back, hind legs, and tail.  This one had a combination of hues I'd never seen before, including two bright yellow forelegs and red and black stripes on its upper body.

A nearby ranger assured me it was, in fact, a Collared Lizard.  Turns out it's specifically a Sonoran Collared Lizard, hence the difference in color and markings.  I had my wide angle lens on my camera, but fortunately the lizard stayed quite still and allowed me to get really close for some solid shots.

I love that this massive boulder full of petroglyphs is known as Newspaper Rock.  It definitely seems like a lot is being communicated on it!

Despite the harsh midday sun, I was still able to get some nice, rich colors at the formation known as The Tepees.  Thank you, polarizing filter!

We finally saw our first actual petrified wood at Blue Mesa.  Unfortunately, we also saw park newspapers littering this slope.  There's a sign telling people not to enter this area, and the footing looked treacherous.  So I didn't try to scramble down and retrieve them.  Instead, I had to creatively compose my shot to hide them behind plants and rock logs.

Click here for Part II.