Bebop Reviews Petrified Forest National Park

There aren't many sticks to chew on in the desert, but we stopped at a place that advertised itself a forest - a Petrified Forest. Petrified can mean scary, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought there would be plenty of sticks there. There were actually many big logs, but they were hard as a rock. You could break a tooth on those things. 

However, it was very pretty. We first went to the part called the Painted Desert. It was very colorful. We drove to many viewpoints and took some short hikes. Whoever painted that thing must have had a big paintbrush and worked for a long time.

Painted Desert section of the Petrified Forest National Park

As we got farther into the park, there were some petroglyphs made by the original inhabitants, and even some pueblo ruins in the park.

Petroglyphs in the Newspaper Rock section of the park

As we got to a section called Blue Mesa we began to see many more of those giant rock logs. Blue Mesa had a nice hiking trail loop that we enjoyed. I saw, and chased, many small lizards. Some of them were probably whiptail lizards, which only have female members and reproduce through a natural form of cloning called parthenogenesis. This is true - you can look it up.

Blue Mesa section of the park

We met a ranger who made me a Bark Ranger. I got a certificate and two treats wrapped in a poop bag - it was a fresh unused poop bag, fortunately.

Bebop the Bark Ranger

We boondocked just outside the south entrance to the park. The guy next to us was a full time van lifer. He had a black cat with a harness and long leash. It was the most talkative cat I have met. I don't speak cat, so I was unsure if it was telling me about their adventures, or asking to be rescued. 

The next day we went back into the park to visit some of the large petrified log areas. These logs were old (217.7 million years) and very hard. They were pretty.

Petrified logs and a dog on a log

The monsoon rains kept missing us to the east and west.

- Bebop