Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest

My second weekend in Arizona, I was on my own since my hiking partner and his girlfriend were purchasing their first home. We had discussed earlier the possibility of going to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park, but since it was the day after devouring the Big Unit at Cooperstown, we were unsure of how we would be feeling the next day and decided to take it easy (taking it easy meaning a 3 mile round-trip hike up a mountain, then taking the "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK" trail to the summit of Pass Mountain in Mesa, Arizona. So, I made my first of several solo hikes into what was for me, one of the most bizarre landscapes I have ever been in.

The Painted Desert is a large area of barren badlands situated in the eastern part of Arizona, not too far from the New Mexico border. Driving east on I-40 toward Winslow and Holbrook, the landscape is flat rolling grasslands. Along the way is the occasional outcropping of red rock, Meteor Crater (I wanted to go, but it is privately owned and you can't even hike into the bottom of the thing which is ridiculous to me), and billboard after billboard advertising fossils and petrified wood for sale. When you finally pass through the whistle-stop town of Winslow (and I did not stand on a corner there) that you are getting close. You finally enter nearby Holbrook, turning south and then north, that you begin to enter the dry hills of the southern Painted Dessert where the Petrified Forest lays.

Long before you reach the visitors' centre in the southern end of the park you start catching glimpses of an eerie landscape. First, you descend into it. The bright light bleaching out all colour at first, but once your eyes become adjusted, bands of colour: reds, bright whites, blacks and varying hues of pink and grey that all combine into a fantastic display of colour and geological tale telling.



Arriving at the visitors' centre, is your first trail at the Rainbow Forest. This easy trail, meandering over sparse grass covered hill gets you up close to large petrified logs of conifer trees that once covered the landscape millions of years ago. Upon close inspection, you can even see quartz crystals and amethyst that formed over time.

























Completing this trail, I continued further north and was in shock. Where were the trails? I finally came upon the next trail at the Crystal Forest, another long meandering trail that takes you past the petrified remains. Not that I wasn't impressed, but I was hoping for something more than the few trails offered so far. However, the next trail at Blue Mesa, three miles off of the main road running northward through the park offered a little more challenge and a completely different landscape. Previously, where the landscape was more rolling hills, here the trail took you into badlands, which I can not really describe adequately in words. Its like walking on the moon. There were far less people on this trail, which to me, was more like it! Walking down through the deep gorges through the hoodoos, it at first looked like someone just spread out bark mulch all over the ground. Out of curiosity, I cautiously picked up a piece (the National Park is very protective of the petrified wood and they do have a checkpoint where they check out your car to make sure that you are not taking anything out...so I did not want to give the wrong impression to the passer-by), and much to my amusement what I had thought was bark mulch was actually a chip of petrified wood...petrified mulch.



Once I completed the trail, I continued north to Pueblo Puerco, the ruins of a small Native American settlement overlooking a nice canyon. Etched in the rock, just below the rim were a series of pictographs, still visible. Very Very cool to see!



Well, it was here that the answer to the big mystery of, "Where are all the trails here?" was finally answered by a Park Ranger...there aren't any...as it turns out, as long as there is not a sign stating that one cannot walk through a particular area, you can simply pull your car over and walk off. Now, if you were to do this in our neck of the woods (literally) there are two possible outcomes: 1) You'd be lynched, 2) you would get lost and search and rescue would come and try to find you, and if you are not dead, you will be responsible for paying for the bill. So, I decided to make a date with the badlands I had passed earlier.



Let me tell you, setting foot out onto the parched clay surface of the badlands and leaving the only visible foot-prints is an odd, kind of nauseating but great experience. The Benonite clay getting compacted under your shoes, the total sense of being alone...almost spiritual. Once I was far out enough to no longer see my car hiding behind a hoodoo, I decided it was time to pack it in and call it a day. Upon arrival back to the car I saw three ravens circling it. I'm pretty sure that is an ominous portent...but I made it home safely.

Just a few tips: Bring water! Enough for you to complete your hike and then some. WHEN YOU ARE HALF-WAY THROUGH YOUR WATER YOU ARE HALF-WAY THROUGH YOUR HIKE. Also bring plenty of sun-screen so you don't fry yourself like I did.

For more information on the Painted Desert and the Petrified National Forest, please visit Petrified Forest National Park.

The South Rim

 So, I know that this blog is dedicated to mostly travel and exploring the North East, however on occasion, thanks to my job, I get to do some travel outside of my favourite geographical area. So, I had the opportunity to work in one of our locations in Phoenix, Arizona. Never having been to Arizona, I was really looking forward to getting out into the desert, and my first choice of places to go hiking was at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Dessert usually equals abundant sunshine and heat, right?

Not on this day. Saturday, April the 18^th we knew was going to be interesting. Though the temps in the city of Phoenix were forecasted to be in the upper sixties, it was going to be raining like hell. My co-worker J and I left the hotel around 6:30 am and started heading north on I-17 in driving rain and some wind, only to find just around Prescott that the rain changed to a steady wet snow. But, we live in New England where people will drive in twelve inches of snow just to get to the mall without giving a second thought.

When we reached I-40 out of Flagstaff, the snow backed off and everything appeared that it would be ok. We took our exit to get to the National Park, and as soon as we hit the border of the park, the snow came back in with a mix of rain for good measure. Finally arriving at the Visitor’s Centre, we discovered that we were going to need some extra clothing for comfort, so we made the trip to the trading post one mile away from the rim, unintentionally getting the same rain pants and similar outer shells making us look like either cult members or people from a running team. But it was good that we stopped in, as the clerk who helped us out gave us a suggestion of a hike into the canyon. He recommended South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge, explaining that the views, of which there were none due to the weather, are better than Bright Angel and that there is less foot traffic.

So, after returning to the Visitor’s Centre we caught the bus to the South Kaibab trail-head at about 7,000 feet in elevation (my first time hiking at a higher altitude than Mount Washington which is the highest point in the North East. At the trail-head there is a mule team used to bring supplies down into the bottom of the canyon, and as a word of warning while on the trail, get out of the way of the mule team as they go down or up, and also watch your step as there is a significant amount of mule poo.

My first thought was how much it was going to suck not being able to see much in the way of views. To visit such an iconic part of the western American landscape and not be able to see the classic sights that so many before us had seen, but then again, how often does an easterner get to hike the Grand Canyon AND can see that they have seen it frosted with snow. I began to cheer up a bit at this though. Interestingly enough, every half hour to forty-five minutes the snow and rain would back off and the fog would lift just enough to begin to see the true scope of the landscape we had entered. Kind of like those first moments that you open your eyes from sleep and not quite everything is in focus. Bands of red rock, darker bands almost black, the trail nothing more than a red-clayed path leading further down, and then across the void barely glimpsing the opposite wall through atmospheric haze…then once again the rain and snow came back obscuring everything like some long and somber dream.























We encountered a few people on the way down into the canyon, most on their way back up, some carrying heavier loads from a backpacking trip from the day or week before. After about two hours worth of hiking we finally reached our intended destination, 2,000 feet below the rim at Cedar Ridge, a broad plateau overlooking the Colorado River (which try as we might, never did get to see). There were a few educational displays, and the chemical toilets were a welcome sight. Here there were, as the name suggests cedar trees as well as the dead dried-out stalks of yucca and dried shrubs.
































Finally it was here that blue sky and the sun began to peek through, and standing on the edge, through the haze we could see only mile after mile of buttes, mesas, and the maze-work of streams thousands of feet below that have sculpted the red rock into one of the most incredible sights man has ever laid eyes on.






















































After the hike up and out, we were greeted by a small herd of Mule Deer just hanging out by the cars at the trail head. We were able to get surprisingly close (though we decided to not get too close. Snapped a few pictures. After the short bus ride back to the Visitors’ Centre where we parked, we could hear thunder rolling in the distance and got the eerie treat of listening to the thunder echo through the canyon. Simply incredible. So, here is the list of weather we got to experience:

• Rain
• Snow
• Hail
• Sleet
• Thunderstorm
• Sunshine

It was time to return to the hotel and catch up with the rest of our crew for the Big Unit Challenge at Cooperstown in Phoenix.

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is open year round, and can be easily reached from Phoenix, AZ by taking I-17 North to I-40 West. Take the exit for I-64 West and follow this to the South Rim entrance to the Grand Canyon. For more information and directions visit the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/grca/