Canyons, craters, and fossils can provide viewers of the present a peak into the distant past. Hundreds of millions of years can be preserved through the transformative geologic processes that have given rise to some of the most astounding natural wonders of the world.
My mom and I have an ever-apparent affinity for desertous canyons. The opportunity to witness firsthand the products of the incredible works of wind, water, and rock in their most beautiful natural environments compelled us to once again head east. Gravitating toward the rich red dirt of the American Southwest, the two of us headed out on a three-state roadtrip through Arizona, Utah, and Nevada in July of 2016.
The first region we explored was Northern Arizona.
We arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
A wildfire in the surrounding forest greeted us with a smoky sky and the loud whir of helicopters. The fire, started by lightening, did not prevent us from reaching the canyon.
The Grand Canyon was carved 5 to 6 million years ago by the Colorado River. Layers of rich geologic material pile over a mile high above the canyon floor.
The canyon that we see today has been shaped and altered by erosion, over millions of years of wind, water, and ice. A special thanks to this man, who allowed us to photograph his very relevant shirt.
Happy travelers at our first canyon of the trip.
The Grand Canyon is over 277 river miles long. The dramatic winding and turning of the river below is reflected in the morphology of the immense national park.
Layers of sandstone, shale, and limestone complement the igneous and metamorphic rock strata deposited by lava flows up to 1,200 million years ago.
Surrounded by miles of canyon, ahead and beneath.
The Colorado River makes an appearance here between our heads. The vibrant green water contrasted the red dirt, each element bringing out the color of the other.
Bound south and east, we left the Grand Canyon. We stopped at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, located just north of Flagstaff.
The San Francisco Volcanic Field has produced over 600 volcanoes over the past 6 million years, the youngest of which is Sunset Crater Volcano. Nearly every hill and mountain in this region is a dormant volcano.
This volcano erupted last around 1,000 years ago. The glowing orange center of the cinder cone crater enlivens this dormant monument.
On our way from Sunset Crater, we happened upon another similarly named monument with a very different cause. Meteor Crater, located about forty miles east of Flagstaff, is the best preserved meteorite impact site on earth.
The rim looking into the crater was incredibly windy. The winds that day reached about 50-60 miles per hour, although they can measure in the triple digits on the windiest days.
This awesome crater is the result of a meteorite collision approximately 50,000 years ago. It is estimated that the asteroid was traveling at about 26,000 miles per hour at the time of impact.
The next day, we excitedly embarked on our exploration of Petrified Forest National Park.
The Petrified Forest contains fossilized logs from over 200 million years ago, around the end of the Late Triassic Period.
Nearly all of the trees in the Petrified Forest are of the coniferous, evergreen genus Araucaria. There are 19 extant species of these primitive trees.
The fossilized remains of Araucarioxylon arizonicum are composed almost entirely of quartz, imbued with a variety of colored minerals that produce the rich rainbow of color in the petrified wood from this region.
This now national park was named a national monument in 1906 to protect its spectacular displays of petrified wood.
A peak into ancient riverbeds of millions of years in the past.
Iron, carbon, and manganese dye the quartz gorgeous shades of red, purple, and yellow.
Not a lick of shade on this 100-degree day meant that we were not joined by many on the trails of this fossil-filled national park.
A desert which was once a forest.
The segments of wood strewn all about the park were created by the gradual uplifting of the Colorado Plateau. The brittle quartz that fills the logs breaks when subjected to stress, so the still-buried logs fragmented under the pressure when the plateau shifted. The resulting broken segments are what we see, today.
The ground is covered with petrified wood chips, smaller remnants of the logs that dot the landscape.
Up close and personal with the casts of living organisms from long ago.
The trees in this ancient forest reached up to 200 feet high and over 2 feet in diameter. Perspective: check the end of this log for a green-shirted explorer.
A view from the other end.
A gnarly bug perched on quartz-filled wood of long ago.
Varying degrees of decay and separation. Wood chip fragments surround this massive log, in the process of becoming entirely reduced to infinitesimal quartz grains of sand in the desert dirt.
A massive tree trunk...
... and a hat-shaded traveler.
This sweet green lizard basked in the sun on this striking rainbow crystalized wood.
Hundreds of millions of years of history captured in a surreal, desertous, ex-arboreal landscape.
A partially agatized log, showcasing the process of perimineralization that has resulted in the preservation of the "woody" look of some portions of petrified wood in the park.
Petrified wood weighs approximately 160 to 200 pounds per square foot. This piece probably weighs upwards of a ton. Disclaimer: I am not actually supporting this log.
Agate Bridge, a 110-foot petrified log bridge, precariously rests over the washed out arroyo below.
The appropriately named trail, the "Crystal Forest."
The northern side of Petrified Forest National Park extends into the Painted Desert, named for its striations and colored hills.
Ravens populate these hot, seemingly inhospitable deserts. Seeing ravens walking around with their beaks wide open is a common sight in the summer, a slightly off-putting yet effective cooling mechanism for these dark black birds.
Painted pyramids line the side of the road.
Badlands topography at its finest.
Coral and lavender hues stain the desertous expanse.
Nothing makes the green brush stand out quite like the reds and blues of the desert and sky.
On our way north from the Petrified Forest, we witnessed the sun eclipsed by smoke from the Grand Canyon wildfire. At one point, the sun glowed red, casting an ominous crimson tint over the desert, mountains, and road.
We arrived in Page, Arizona.
We started our day with a visit to Glen Canyon Dam. The path to the viewpoint was nothing if not mesmerizing.
Glen Canyon Dam enables the formation of one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the country, Lake Powell. The water in this reserve supplies Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. You can see a glimpse of Lake Powell in this picture on the other side of the dam and bridge.
Down the path to the Colorado River, the lifeblood of Lake Powell.
Layered sandstone can create outlandish landscapes. Aside from the green brush, the combination of this red rock and and the desert sand made it feel like we were on Mars.
The Colorado River winding around the bend hundreds of feet below.
It is incredible that life can spring up in the seemingly most barren places.
The only shade on a 90-degree morning.
Later that day, we took a boat tour through Antelope and Navajo Canyons.
These now river-filled sandstone slot canyons were flooded due to the creation of the reservoir in the late 1950s-early 1960s.
At the beginning of our time on the boat, a young woman behind us in the cabin fainted. We had to turn back and get her to the dock for medical attention. She regained consciousness shortly and was eventually taken off the boat by the paramedics. This experience was a little scary because, even though we had just taken off on our journey through the canyons, it took about half an hour before she was in the hands of medical professionals. The three-hour boat tour that lay ahead seemed a bit daunting in light of this experience. Some of us on the boat were pretty freaked out, so the kind co-captain handed out water and took photos for the passengers. Our headsets played an informational track about the landscapes and formations we were seeing, but for much of the ride, I chose to forgo the headphones and let nature speak for itself.
For the entirety of the medical emergency, no passengers inside the cabin were allowed out for any reason. Once the young woman was off the boat, we excitedly emerged into the open air and experienced the boat tour from the roof.
The rocky slopes on either side were simply fascinating, as if sculpted by an artist.
Antelope Canyon took my breath away.
The reflections of the sunlight danced off the clear green water and onto the canyon side.
The bend in the slot canyon on the way from Antelope to Navajo Canyon, filled with the byproduct river of Lake Powell.
Crossing the lake.
This was absolutely the coolest view from a toilet that I have ever seen.
Mother, daughter, and Navajo Canyon.
The walls of Navajo Canyon look almost as if they were painted, or as if they were woven like a tapestry.
The gorgeous sunshine illuminated the water, canyons, and pale moon in the pure blue sky.
We made our return to land and geared up for our next adventure.
Stay tuned for the second installment of this Southwest mid-summer daydream.
Suddenly I feel overheated...but that's ok cuz we're surrounded by such beauty. Once again, thoroughly enjoyed the ARMCHAIR adventure that you have provided. I left my office for a while, and was in the canyons with you.
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