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| Petrified Forest National Park, AZ | |
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| | Petrified Forest National Park, AZ | | | |
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Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.33 Miles |
406 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.33 Miles | | | |
| 406 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Made a stop at Petrified Forest National Park on my way to Colorado.
I hit up the Rainbow Forest Loop first. On returning to the beginning of the loop, I overheard a gentleman talking to a ranger asking if it was legal for him to tote his gun in the park. The ranger informed him it was legal to tote his gun, but if he discharged it he could be in trouble. The gentlemen replied: "But what if there's a mountain lion attacking me?!"
Next I hit up the Long Logs - Agate House loop. This was the longest trail I did at the park totaling a whopping 2.5 miles! The Agate house is interesting; It was built out of Petrified Wood! On the way back the loop takes you through some neat looking badlands. This was probably my favorite trail I did, you essentially get a little sampler of everything you see on the rest of the established trails.
After that, I was off to Crystal Forest. A short loop with a few good views, and Petrified Wood that has a "crystal" looking core.
Next was Blue Mesa Trail, which takes you through some bigger and nicer looking badlands.
I then checked out Puerco Pueblo. The ruins are interesting, but I thought the sun dial which was etched into a rock was pretty cool. The Pueblo people would use it in order to track the changing seasons so they knew when to plant crops. I didn't quite understand exactly how it worked, only that it was etched in the rock at a position where when the sun hit it, a "light shaft" is created that intersects a spiral at 9:00 AM.
The last hike I did was the Painted Desert Rim. The immediate area isn't very interesting, but the views of the wilderness area north of the trail is enticing. Sometime I would like to backpack the Wilderness Area north of the Painted Desert Visitor Center. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
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