May 9-10, 2016 Payson-Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Headed toward Payson today.

Forest fire we saw on the way. John thinks it was a prescribed burn since it was gone by afternoon. We stopped in Payson to see the Zane Grey cabin and the Rim Country museum. It is not the original one, it burnt down, this is a replica. They would not let us take photos inside. We had a guided tour of the two buildings. Learned a lot about the area.

  This second cabin is the Haught Cabin. Zane’s cabin was on their ranch. Mom, Dad and 5 kids lived in this one. We headed up to the national forest east of Payson. Trees as far as you can see in the national forest.

The indoor outhouse was at the Rim Country museum, spring beauty, elk track, yellow flowers and sweet peas. The bus at the Canyon Point forest service campground. 7,500 feet. It was in the 70’s during the day but we will freeze tonight!

Backlit spring green aspens. The next day we continued east. Holbrook is on route 66, the Wigwam hotel was one of the attractions. I can’t tell if they are still renting teepees, but I got this photo of the inside while the maid was cleaning.

We are camped in the free RV camping at the Crystal Forest gift and rock shop right outside the Petrified Forest National Park. Imagine, free camping right outside a national park.  No hookup or bathrooms, but it is free. It is actually cleaner and nicer than some of the parks we pay for.  We headed into the park.

The Rainbow Forest visitors center is mainly about the fossils they have found in the park. 200 million years ago this area was a lush rainforest with giant trees and dinosaurs. The trees that fell into the river were buried in floodplains and sediment that included volcanic ash rich in silica. The silica replaced the wood. Iron oxide and other minerals stained the  logs to produce rainbow colors.  The bones of a  giant prehistoric alligator were found here. John has his head in between the jaws. The trail behind the visitors center is called the Giant Trees forest. Here is one above with tiny people beside it.

We saw this collared lizard on one of the logs. Below it are fossils of leaves. The logs are really life like.  Wood grain, knots, bark etc.

The colors in these logs is beautiful. There is quartz and agates. They sparkle in the sun. Beetles in flowers, yellow cholla fruits and little daisies.

We walked on the Long Logs trail to the Agate house. It was a 7 room pueble built by the native americans out of petrified wood. This is a reconstruction of it. Here is a detail of the Agate house. It is a true petrified log cabin.

The clouds and scenery were really pretty too. The logs were huge. Some of the trees were 200 feet tall in real life.

The logs are spread willy nilly all over. White flowers and Sego lilies, blooming yucca, and mallow. There was a Fred Harvey trading post. Haven’t seen one of those in a long time.

Sunset on one of the fake teepees at the gift shop/free camping place we are at.