The Painted Desert

At the Painted Desert (part of the Petrified Forest National Park), we were amazed at what we saw. Neither words nor pictures seem adequate to describe this gem. 

The Painted Desert lies just west of Holbrook and much of  it is within the Navajo Nation. The area was once a low-lying a tropical rain forest but now is a high plateau, arid and with little vegetation. Erosion has created myriad shapes with multi-color layers which are nothing less than spectacular.

 

On our visit we learned that the variety of colors in the stratified siltstone, shale and mud stone is the result of variations in the mineral content and the rate that the sediment was formed.  The reds, oranges and pinks are the result of a slow sediment build up.  Compounds of iron and magnesium provide the palette.  And the views of this marvelous place just keep on getting better:

Is it any surprise that these colors are those commonly seen in architecture throughout the southwest?  Is it any wonder that the Spanish explorers named this place El Desierto Pintado?  No surprise, this is quite a colorful wonder.

We hope to be back.  No surprise there.