The next portion of the drive was fairly uneventful, although we did see a golden eagle perch atop a tree along side the road as we drove by. The other thing I remember was the road construction that delayed us several times (8 different construction zones since we left Tucson, luckily we didn't get stopped long at most of them). The last construction zone ended just as we entered the Petrified Forest National Park.

The park features one of the world's largest collections of colorful, petrified wood. The park contains tall pine-like trees that grew close to streams about 225 million years ago, that have been crystallized into quartz and preserved as petrified logs. However, it also contains great amounts of scientific and historical information in addition to the petrified wood. Plant and animal fossils are abundant, and in some places up to 300 feet depths of fossil bearing material remains. Human history is also depicted throughout the park, with evidence of nomadic tribes, agricultural villages, pueblos, and even trading that took place with neighboring villages.

We walked several of the short trails through the park and took pictures. However, the zoom lens on the camera was acting up at the time, and I didn't realize it until we were almost out of the park. So we ended up with only a few good pictures in the area, including this one of Agate Bridge. This tree originally laid flat on the ground until the arroyo below it was formed by erosion. As you can see, the tree has been given human support to help preserve this petrified bridge. The first supports were two pillars added in the early 1900s, but has since been upgraded to the more horizontal concrete structure you see here. National Park Service policies have changed, and if the log were discovered today, the support would not be added, allowing the attraction to naturally decay and crumble with time. Blue Mesa, Crystal Forest and Jasper Forest were some more short hikes that allowed us to explore other petrified remains.

Newspaper Rock and Puerco Pueblo were 2 stops that highlighted some of the archaeological remains of human habitation found in the park's boundaries. The petroglyphs and ruins found at these two sites provide evidence of human travel and small communities in the area. The Puerco Pueblo is believed to have been inhabited by approximately 50 to 70 farmers in the 1200's and again during the late 1300's and early 1400's.

The last portion of our trip through the park was the Painted Desert. This type of eroded landscape is also referred to as Badlands. The hills have been carved by wind and water, and various minerals are responsible for the coloring. The reddish mudstone base of the hills is stained with iron oxide (hematite) and the darker red areas are iron-stained siltstone. The distinctive white layer interrupting the reddish base is sandstone and high carbon content is what causes the darkest layers of the hills.

The first day of our trip ended in Blanding, Utah. Tomorrow's agenda: the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park.