The Painted Desert

Petrified logs were scattered all throughout the badlands area. We took a hike called Long Logs and viewed an adobe home that had been rebuilt in part.














A petrified log is on top a huge cliff. It used to extend out over the hillside, but fell off several years ago.






Ravens, a cousin to the Midwestern crow, are much larger than expected.








Ancient tribes carved symbols into what is now termed Newspaper Rock.


Driving through the desert, we spotted a golden eagle majestically perched upon a hillside.

Painted Desert Inn

Petrified Forest

Approaching the Petrified Forest


In the distance, the San Francisco mountain peaks could be seen. These mountains are north of Phoenix.


The Petrified Forest offered a great museum showing fossils and petrified wood from around the USA. Clearly, the AZ petrified wood is the most colorful. Unfortunately about 1 ton of petrified wood is stolen from the park a month. Pictures from previous decades reveal mounds of wood all across the desert.

Salt River Canyon Wilderness

Coronado National Forest

We discovered another rare crested saguaro.


We traveled past several extremely large mining places as we headed north to the Painted Desert.










We traveled through a tunnel in the mountainside.