Petrified Forest/Painted Desert

Forest of giants.
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Can you believe it - it hasn't rained in Arizona for some time but it rained today!  We made it to the Petrified Forest without getting wet and tolerated the heat well.  It was nearly 100% but 12% humidity.  Can you believe 12%??  The Petrified Forest was really cool.  It was created during the Triassic period when this part of the world was part of Pangea and located at the equator.  These trees were part of an ancient forest and were toppled during a flood.  After tumbling and rolling for miles, the branches were broken off. The logs settled to the bottom of the river and over time were covered by sand and sealed with silica.  Minerals leached into each cell of the tree and reacted to form crystals. The type of mineral determined the type of crystal.

I just like this picture!
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We hiked through three different areas.  My favorite was the Blue Mesa, which shows the blue layers of sediment. This hike was about 1 mile and fairly easy until the return trip back up the hill  It really is a beautiful place.

After returning to the RV park and eating lunch, we headed back to this area to see the Painted Desert - just in time for the rain.  It muted the colors a bit but we still got to see some gorgeous landscape.  We also saw a coyote and two pronghorn sheep.

I think that this one has personality.
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We leave Holbrook tomorrow and head to Flagstaff.  On the way, we are planning to stop at the Meteor Crater.