Painted Desert

Our current trip dates to three years ago, when we  drove the Natchez Trace from Tennessee to Mississippi. After we got home, Johnna said she wanted to drive South to North in the spring to experience the dogwoods in bloom. That's the genesis of this trip; we keep adding places to go and see, so it's no longer a there and back kind of excursion. Yesterday, we made our first leg, Holbrook Arizona, only 50 or so to go.

From Dammeron Valley to Holbrook is 380 miles, a long day for us. This trip we drove US 89 Alt past the Vermilion Cliffs, home to the California Condor; Johnna saw one, while we were stopped at a viewing area. She tried to get my attention, but I didn't hear her, so I missed it. One of these here days, we're going to spend some time in the general area for the scenery and the possibility of seeing condors.

US  89 Alt crosses the new Navajo bridge in Marble canyon, at Lees Ferry. We crossed the old bridge almost 20 years ago; it was getting pretty decrepit then and only one vehicle crossed at a time. One reason I wanted to take this route was the prospect of stopping to take a picture of the old bridge and river below. I thought there would be a parking spot large enough for the trailer after we got across, there was a parking area alright, but it seemed to small to turn the trailer around in, so I drove on, yet another reason to plan a trip in the future.

Our first stop for this trip would be Holbrook Arizona, because of the painted desert. In November of 2006, we visited the painted desert and petrified forest. But it seemed that spring time colors would be a good contrast to the multicolored desert landscape. Unfortunately we are several weeks to early. The grass is still a winter straw color, like we saw in November, and very few wild flowers are blooming, only some loco weed and an occasional prim rose. Oh well, despite global warming, the desert isn't going to blow away any time soon; we'll have to plan another trip someday. Its only a days drive anyway; we could wait until we know the spring vegetation is up and growing good before taking off.

We started our tour from park headquarters just off  I 40. A paved road of 28 miles, takes you through a portion of the painted desert, across I 40 and through the petrified forest. Many pull outs provide ample parking and overlooks with long range views of the unusual landscape. The park road follows a canyon rim looking down on mounds and hillocks of sandstone eroded from the surrounding desert. The colorful features of the painted desert are composed of distinct layers of white sandstone, bands of dark red iron-stained siltstone, bands of reddish iron oxide, and darker layers colored by high carbon content.

Various lighting conditions during the day effect the color saturation. At high noon, on a cloudless day, most of the color is washed out. Morning and evening light seems to bring out color variations the best. We were there around 11:00 AM, on a day with thin wispy clouds and the colors were pretty good.

These eroded mounds are are the major attraction in the painted desert, but you know that similar layers of colored sand stone are everywhere under foot as you walk around the park.

The refurbished Painted Desert Inn. It was originally constructed by Herbert Lore in 1924 as the “Stone Tree House.” Between 1937 and 1939 the building was enlarged to its present size by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) under the direction of Lorimer Skidmore.

In 1948, the Painted Desert Inn was the park's northern headquarters, featuring a shop and restaurant operated by the Fred Harvey Company.

Mary Colter, the company's architect and interior designer, was responsible for remodeling the Inn. She hired Fred Kabotie, a Hopi Indian artist, to paint murals in the lunch room and dining room. His work reflects the Hopi ties to this region.

One of the lunch room murals.

Hand decorated panels in the skylight. Executed by one of the CCC guys.

This is the back of the inn. It would make a very nice home, spacious, warm in winter, cool in summer and a gorgeous, million dollar view.

By the time we finished the painted desert loop, I was hungry and we returned to the visitors center, and had lunch at the Harvey House. In the good old days, Harvey Houses provided temporary relief for the weary traveler. Now, it's hard to find one, but during their hay day, Harvey Houses seemed to appear on the horizon at just the right time for a much needed break. Mental breaks were provided by Burma Shave signs, like this one " Kissing a girl -- Is like kissing a cactus -- It takes more nerve than practice. "

 

We retraced our path through the painted desert to cross I 40 and tour the petrified forest.

Just before crossing the interstate, we ran across this tribute to the storied route 66, which has been replaced by interstate 40. But nostalgia reigns and numerous places along the old route keep relics like this bumper as a slice of history; I think more for old folks like Johnna and I, who actually traveled 66, than for any other reason. Well, I can't say that, route 66 is remembered through big sales of mementos and trinkets.

Petrified Forest National Park is the only park in the National Park System containing a section of Historic Route 66.

This bumper has more chrome than most modern cars.

A rusted hulk of unknown origin is part of the route 66 monument. I couldn't find an emblem or logo that gave me any hint of its make or model, but driving something similar through the desert in summer, with a noisy engine and no air conditioning, could test a persons aggravation level. If you had the time, traveling at night was one way to avoid the heat. My step father drove a touring car, something like this, from Ohio to Southern California in the 20's, before the magnificent paved route 66; he even negotiated the 6 1/2 mile plank road through the Imperial Sand Hills, between Phoenix and San Diego.

After our flirt with old memories, we crossed  I 40 and continued our tour. In November, we stopped at every turn out, so this time we skipped around and took in what we missed then.

Petrified trees are kind of fascinating and the park attracts hundreds of visitors every year. Before Roosevelt declared the area a national park in 1902, tons of wood were removed by local residents and sightseers. Not much would be left if territorial residents hadn't recognized that all the petrified wood could be carried away piece by piece and if Roosevelt hadn't set aside selected stands of the petrified trees as a National Monument.

Large logs like these are the petrified remains of conifer trees once growing along streams flowing through the areas flood plane.

This ended our first sight seeing day and, tomorrow, its on to Socorro and the Trinity Site, Saturday.