SOUTHWEST ROAD TRIP, Part 3. Chaco Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Montezuma's Castle : Guest Post by Susan Kean

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George love to travel and recently did a driving trip from Southern California to Arizona, New Mexico and the Four Corners area of Colorado and Utah. I thank her for sharing her report and wonderful photos with The Intrepid Tourist. Her post appears in three parts.

Petrified Forest National Monument, Arizona.

The next part of our adventure took us to the Chaco Culture National Cultural Park and then to somewhere I’ve always wanted to go… the Petrified Forest.

Chaco Canyon. Incredible stonework....over 1000 years old.

Chaco is another world heritage site. Center for Puebloans from 850-1200. It is thought to have been a religious center where people paid to come.

Petrified logs.

The petrified forest quartz logs were formed 225 million years ago!

La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona.

Our last night we spent at the most amazing hotel…La Posada in Winslow, Arizona, on both the Santa Fe railroad and Route 66. Built in 1929, it has recently been beautifully restored. It is oozing with history!

Extensive gift shop at La Posada.

This is what I call blueberry pancakes. Fluffy and delicious!

La Posada is one of the best hotels I've every stayed at! We enjoyed an incredible dinner and breakfast at the adjacent restaurant.

Montezuma's Castle, Arizona. 

We made one stop on our way home…also one of my favorite places. Montezuma’s Castle… as they told us…not a castle and nothing to do with Montezuma! It is a most amazing five story structure built in a cliff around 1200 CE. They suggest that perhaps a group of Sinagua people lived there. They reached it with ladders… all their food and everything else was brought in that way. Apparently the old people were carried on their backs! Lots of unanswered questions about living like that!

Snow began falling on Hwy 17 on our way to Phoenix. We were leaving just in time! After all, it was January!

Read Part 1 (3/3/25) and Part 2 (3/10/25) at this blog for more of Susan's Southwest Road Trip.

ARIZONA WHIRLWIND, Part 1: Portal, Petrified Forest, and Painted Desert, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Hummingbird, Portal, Arizona

Our friend Owen Floody traveled in Arizona last September.  Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken numerous trips that allow him to pursue his passion. Here is the first part of a short reflection on his trip and some of his excellent photographs.
 
In early September of 2014, I headed for Arizona, my excuse being an invitation to visit friends in Portal, near the state's southeastern corner.  Since I flew into Tucson, I was able to visit several attractions before making my way to Portal.  In the immediate vicinity of Tucson, these included the wonderful Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Rincon Mountain district of Saguaro National Park.  Closer to Portal, I enjoyed stops at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon (a small museum specializing in Indian history and artifacts) and the Chiricahua Desert Museum in Rodeo (worth a visit if only for the reptile displays).  Once in Portal, I spent a pleasant week catching up with old friends.  This was further enriched by hikes and excursions to exploit the bird-watching (perhaps especially hummingbird-watching) for which Portal is famous among birders.

Cactus in bloom, Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Once my week expired, I spent an additional week in Arizona pursuing a counterclockwise loop that took in Petrified Forest National Park and the adjacent Painted Desert, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park, and Grand Canyon National Park.  Throughout, I was trying to concentrate my sightseeing and photography in the mornings and evenings, reserving the afternoons for the longer drives between parks.  Each of the places I visited was wonderful.

Petrified logs in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

In the Petrified Forest, I was most struck by two things.  The first related to the volume and distribution of the petrified wood that is the park's focus: Petrified logs are everywhere, making it great fun to wander the many trails, perhaps especially early or late in the day, when the colors in the stone are best illuminated.  

Fragments of petrified wood in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Some of my favorite views were of gullies, through which petrified logs seemed to tumble down, attesting to the number of such logs and the natural processes that continue to reveal them.  Second, it was impressed upon me that petrified wood comes in all sizes and shapes.  Though the logs are clearly impressive, I also was much taken by the small but colorful fragments of petrified wood that litter the ground in some places.

(Continued next week--Part 2: Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley)