Petrified Forest Drive Through - Monday, March 25, 2019

Today is moving day. The plan is to stay at the Crystal Forest Gift Shop Campground tonight at the southern end of Petrified Forest National Park. They have boondocking for free, or electric hookup for $10 or $15 per night, first-come, first served. Make sure you have your water on board as, apparently, their water is terrible.

We checked out of Lake Pleasant Regional Park around 8:30 a.m. on a lovely Phoenix morning. Traffic on I-17 north was light. The scenery was hills, saguaro, and sunshine until we got farther north. Then, the views changed to pine forest, hills, and mountains. Humphreys Peak in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness had fresh snow, looked regal in its white ermine coat, and rumor had it it was open for skiing. 

At 12,635', it's the highest mountain in Arizona and the hike to the summit can be done by an amateur in good shape. So says the internet. Today was not the day for us to try this out! We wouldn't want to drive our 5th wheel up there, and we would have needed snowshoes. Nope, not the right time to do that! But it was pretty to look at as it dominated the skyline.

Humphreys Peak as seen from I-17 north in Arizona.

We stopped for lunch at Taco Bell in Winslow, Arizona. 

Bob wanted to be standing on a corner there, so we tracked down the famous corner and took photos.

Me and Bob "standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona,
such a fine sight to see..."

"When a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowed down to take a look at me. Take it easy..."

THE corner on Rte. 66. 

After lunch and photos, we hit the highway for Petrified Forest National Park, southern entrance. We missed our turn onto US 180 in Holbrook. We were looking at sights rather than paying attention to highway signs. Luckily, I figured it out within five miles or so and we turned around to get back on track. We arrived at Crystal Forest Museum and Gifts about 2:30 p.m. 

When we entered the gift shop (which is great, by the way), we asked the clerk if it was okay to take RVs on the road through Petrified Forest. She assured us it was fine. 

Bob and I talked and came to the conclusion that we didn't need to stay by the south entrance and we could make it to Albuquerque tonight. In fact, we needed to continue east on I-40. If we camped at the south entrance, when we finished our exploration of the park, we would need to go south again to pick up our 5th wheel and haul it north. Basically, we would have to drive through the park three times. It's not a loop. In addition, the National Park hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If we stayed at the southern end of the park, we could not start out before 8:00 a.m.

I called Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque where we had a reservation for tomorrow night and asked if we could come in tonight instead. They had limited availability, but she was able to find us a spot.

Off we went, hauling our 5th wheel through Petrified Forest N.P. First stop: Rainbow Forest Museum and Visitor Center. The museum is small but gives so much information about cataclysmic events that shaped the earth's earliest history. There is a display that shows how the continents used to look and how the earth moved in conjunction with tectonic plates and upheavals to form the continents we know today.

After sitting in the truck for so long, our legs were screaming, "Walk, walk, walk." Our the back door of the visitor center was the 0.4 mile Giant Logs Trail. This is a great introduction to the petrified logs in all their different phases. One of the biggest petrified logs is called "Old Faithful" which is almost 10' across at its base.

"Old Faithful." 

Petrified wood that has eroded out of the soil.

The geography is reminiscent of The Badlands
in South Dakota.

You can see for miles and miles.

This piece of wood looks
crystallized and sparkles
in the sun.

Back in the visitor center, we spent time reading the exhibits. When was a top predator in the late Triassic period not a dinosaur? When it was a rauisuchid (raw-is-SOO-kid). Though their bodies were similar to meat-eating dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex or Allosaurus, they were more closely related to crocodiles.

Rauisuchid (larger) and Aetosaurs (smaller)

Late Triassic period.

During the late Triassic period, 223 million years ago, Arizona was a subtropical 
forest a few degrees north of the equator. Due to earth tectonics, it moved 2,100 miles north and west!

Read about this
petrified tree below.

We hopped back in the truck and hauled the 5th wheel from the Visitor Center to our next stop, the Agate Bridge. Different geology greets the eye as you pass through the park. 

At Agate Bridge, water has eroded away the dirt from under this log. When this tree died, it washed into a river and its quick burial by river sediments prevented decay. Volcanic ash dissolved in groundwater provided silica, which reacted with the log and slowly crystallized it into quartz. Millions of years later, rivers and streams eroded massive layers of rock strata to expose this fossilized tree. Inevitably, water now carving the small gully under Agate Bridge will cause its collapse. The supportive concrete span, constructed in 1917, is a tenuous attempt at preservation. Water will always have its way.

Agate Bridge.

 at

View from Agate Bridge.

Erosion of softer rock under the harder petrified
trees leaves the fossilized logs in a precarious
position at the top of a ridge.

This looks so much like The Badlands in South Dakota.

So colorful!

The roads in Petrified Forest are bumpy. We drove below the speed limit with our 5th wheel and it was still quite bumpy. I can't believe we took our 5th wheel on the Blue Mesa Loop. I'm a Nervous Nelly on narrow roads with no guardrails. The road is very curvy and you're on the top of the ridge for a while looking down. There are some places to pull over, but they're limited. Thankfully, it was not very crowded. We hogged up a pullout when we stopped, so I hopped out, took photos and hopped back in the truck.

A couple of vacationers. (Use your imagination.)

Blue Mesa area.

Blue Mesa.

I want to hike down there!

Blue Mesa.

The Teepees.

The Teepees.

It was getting close to the park's 5:00 p.m. closing time and we still wanted to stop at the Route 66 marker and viewpoints of The Painted Desert. Next stop, a tribute to Rte. 66.

A 1932 Studebaker.

We paid homage to the Mother Road and continued on to Pintado Point for a late afternoon look at The Painted Desert, and then stopped again at The Painted Desert Inn.

Pintado Point view.

Pintado Point view.

Looking west from Pintado Point.

The Painted Desert Inn sits majestically atop a mesa with sweeping views to the north. 

The Painted Desert.

Refurbished room at the Painted Desert Inn.
They used to have lodging here many years ago.

The Painted Desert Inn Historical Landmark.

The Painted Desert Inn Parking lot is a start point for Wilderness Area Hiking in the Painted Desert. There is a trail to get you into the backcountry and then you can hike where you like (with restrictions, of course).

It was 5:30 p.m. and we hoped we could get out of the park. Surely they wouldn't lock us in, would they? There were exit gates with arms that let us leave. We had a quick visit to Petrified Forest and it would be nice to return without the 5th wheel so we could park and do more hiking. We would also like to see the movie in the Painted Desert Visitor Center. (It was closed by the time we got there.)

Scenery on I-40 east heading into New Mexico...

We took I-40 to Gallup and had dinner at Smokey's BBQ. There was a huge shopping mall parking lot behind the restaurant. Parking was easy. Dinner was good except for their corn muffins which were hard.

Smokey's BBQ, Gallup, New Mexico

Our plan was to be in Albuquerque at about 9:00 p.m. However, we forgot about the time change. It was 10:30 p.m. when we rolled into the campground. We were exhausted.