|
| | | Long Logs and Agate House and Giant Logs, AZ | | | |
|
|
Long Logs and Agate House and Giant Logs, AZ
| | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 3.82 Miles |
184 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.82 Miles | 1 Hour 47 Mns | | 2.27 mph |
| 184 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | Kelly knew the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert were on my small bucket list. Luckily she has been to the area three times in the last couple of years so she put together a great itinerary. All I had to do was drive and find us a hotel for a couple nites in Holbrook, AZ.
We decided to drive the loop for our 3 day trip so I could stop at Winslow. After all, the Eagles are my era of music. It's funny though, I don't remember their Eagles World Tour concert of 1994 that I went to at Sun Devil Stadium. But I do remember the Rolling Stones at Sun Devil Stadium in 1981, go figure. Up until then, the biggest concert I had been to was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band when they toured in Montana in the 70s.
Oh ya, the trip. By the time we got to Holbrook it was lunch time. We drove the main drag looking for a place for lunch and finally found a spot with several cars. Camaleon Cafe is where I've had one of the best margaritas ever. The Cadillac had both Cointreau (which I prefer over Triple Sec) and Grand Mariner. BUT the most interesting part was the tamarind wrapped straw. I couldn't initially figure out how to tackle that. Oh, and be sure and mix this margarita before sipping. I had a BLT but FYI, it does not go well with a margarita.
We drove to the Visitors Center to pick up some brochures before heading out on the Long Logs (site of a Tirassic log jam) and Agate House hike. Apparently they turned the old road into a trail which winds through a small section of the park so it made for great walking and gawking. Almost right off the bat, Kelly spotted her first Collared Lizard which was really her main objective for this little hike. These lizards don't seem to be too shy so we were able to get a nice photo or four. We continued along and lo and behold, another Collared that also posed for a photo shoot. There were a few plants here and there with some Chinle Formation mounds in view, both near and far. Needless to say, it's pretty colorful when you throw in some petrified wood and rocks. The petrified logs were indeed rather large; some even taller than me when laying flat.
The Agate House was pretty impressive as well. And as would be the case for much of our hiking in the area, the interpretive sign provided interesting information. The signs would help provide explanation to the environment we were passing through. When first recorded by archeologists in the 1930s, the petrified wood construction of Agate House was thought to be unique. Since then, HUNDREDS of similar petrified wood structure sites have been found in the park.
I could see the clouds start rolling in from the south so I hoped they would keep coming to provide for better photography.
Next we did the little Giant Logs Interpretive Trail (home of Old Faithful, 10 feet at the base) above the Visitors Center. They are renovating a lot of this trail in Rainbow Forest (originally called Third Forest). The pamphlet helped to provide information as to what we were looking at. Giant Logs is geologically in the Rainbow Forest bed of the Sonsela Member (mostly sandstone and conglomerate with some mudstones) of the Chinle Formation. The Sonsela Member contains the majority of the petrified wood deposits in the park and was deposited between 219-213 million years ago.
And believe it or not, as much as I didn't want to film movies, I did. Here is the video: [ youtube video ] |
|
Wildflowers Observation Light
Isolated: Lupine, Milkvetch, Globemallow
Moderate: Golden Mariposa Lily, Springparsley |
|
| _____________________
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
