The Petrified Forest

Santa Fe was a wonderful city, one whose unique charm rivals any other city we've frequented.  Yet, the call of the canyon beckoned us onward.  Then it beckoned us to stand still again.  Of course, that might have been the highway system; an accident on interstate had us paused for two hours.  All was not lost, Alex and her organized podcast queue had us learning about the construction of Hoover Dam and her compact sketch pad kept her entertained as a stressed out highway crew rushed to clear the wreckage, knowing full well no speed would keep inconvenienced travelers from thinking them slow.

We did get going again, and it wasn't long before we were at Petrified Forest National Park.  Long ago, what is now the American southwest was a tropical rain forest, evidenced by the tree logs long buried and petrified.  Its pretty amazing seeing these logs preserved so colorfully by the various minerals involved in the petrification process.  Some logs as you walk by display with remarkable detail the trees rings marking the growth of a life in world of long ago, it all depends on the speed with with the petrification process continued.

We were able to get some short walk around the forest in as the neighboring Painted Desert; the very same minerals painting both stone and sand, but alas, the two hour traffic delay did cost us substantial viewing time.  We took in as much as we could and headed on to Flagstaff for our final supplies, then it was on to the canyon.  Between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, a mixture of desert brush and surprisingly dense pine trees rush by you, I hadn't though of it, but the Canyon's two rims are actually at a pretty high elevation. 

Upon entering the park, we set up our simple camp site hurriedly, wanting to glimpse the canyon whose grandness had catalyzed this entire trip.  That first view certainly did not disappoint.  We walked along the Rim Trail, taking in the vastness and wonder of the place, cementing in our minds the first impressions of how beautiful and wondrous a landscape so picturesque is. 

That evening, the darkness drawing us away from the majesty just yards away, we listened to a Ranger presentation about how people have thought of the canyon over time.  What's fascinating is how recently the idea of the Grand Canyon as a place of beauty, at least from a European settler's viewpoint, actually is.  The native tribes originally inhabiting this area were able to carve out live for themselves here, certain areas of the canyon are held as sacred.  The Spanish Conquistadors,  first among the Europeans to view this magnificent site, for one thing did not recognize the scale of the thing, having no way to realize the size of what appeared to be a tiny creek below, but for another just found the thing a nuisance. 

I try to have some sympathy for the Spaniards' unrefined taste in the natural world; these were men trying to explore and an impassable break in the land is in their way, and 16th century clothing, especially the chain mail and leather shoes of a conquering army, would tend to make someone less inclined to enjoy a pleasurable stroll down a rocky incline.  These excuses only go so far though.  These men were from a Europe enjoying a rebirth in art, architecture, and culture writ large; such indifference to beauty in the natural world is a talking point in which side of the Colombian exchange truly was the barbarian.

Anyway, we shall leave such speculations for another time.  We settled in for the night, ready for new adventures with a new day.  Omnia Vincit Amour.