Painted Desert (Part 2 of the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert NP)

Monday, Sept. 27

(Post 2) This whole area is part of the Painted Desert, but the exposures of the Late Jurassic Chinle Formation in the northern half of the national park are spectacular. Seeing this formation in low angle sunlight makes the rock colors brighter. This particular formation features two odd rock shades: one is a lovely sage green through grey, and the other is a dark aubergine. Very odd, very dramatic. The colors were vibrant and changing as clouds past overhead. In the park it is fun to see the petrified wood logs acting as the caprock for some of the exposures. The petrified pieces range through every shade of brown to red, gold, orange and white.

 

We knew we wouldn’t want to drive back to Flagstaff after a day of driving, hiking, and taki

ng pictures in the sun, so we stayed in Holbrook, close to the park entrance, for the evening. At dinner we met a couple from Carlisle, PA. and accompanied them the next day to the Rock Art Ranch outside of Holbrook. (see next posting on petroglyphs and Ancestral Puebloan artifacts.)