Photo Friday: The Petrified Forest and other treats

Last month I took a "little" road trip to New Mexico, by way of California. The California part was family business, but once I turned my nose south and east from there, things got fun.

For one thing, I spent the first night out in a favorite camping spot, and the weather was perfect.

Mono Lake at sunset.

The lake and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the morning.

I then took some fairly obscure roads south through Nevada. I had to stop a couple of times for the flowers on the roadsides.

The next day I stopped at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, a place we visited when I was a little kid (I also always have to correct myself when I call it "Petrified National Forest"). I found the locations of a couple of old photos we'd been looking at recently, which was kind of fun.

The Visitor's Center area. It was noon, and pretty hot, but the wind was blowing enough to make it bearable to be out for a while.

I checked out the short trail and trees by the Visitor's Center, then ate my lunch and drove off to a couple of other roadside sites (or sights).

I love the way they built the sidewalk so it looks like the tree fell on top of it! 

There was a nice placard explaining why the trees break into these neat rounds that look like someone's been cutting them up for firewood. Naturally, I don't remember the process.

This was one of the places in the old photos, and it hasn't really changed. I think that *ahem* 55 years ago the tree on the far end was more lively. Close examination shows that even then the log was reinforced with concrete; it must have been discovered and shored up very soon after the ground eroded from under it.

Enjoying dinner somewhere in the Apache National Forest. 

I was trying to get in at least 2 or 3 miles of walking/hiking each day as I did this long drive, since at the end of it I'd be putting on a pack and hiking for 7 days. It was really windy that morning, but I spotted a trail (which ended up being a road) up to the Rose Peak lookout tower, and went up for the views. 

Unfortunately, the lookout is closed to entry. Views from the top of the hill were largely obscured by the vegetation.

 

The views were just below the summit, and showed a lot of wild country, much of which I'd have to drive through before I could get gas, groceries, or a cup of coffee.

One last surprise for me was driving through this totally wild land--and suddenly encountering the Morenci mine--the largest copper mine in North America, and a huge, sprawling open pit, both ugly in what it does to the land and also kind of awe-inspiring, when you think about the amount of dirt that's been moved.

The tires on that little truck are about twice my height, making them at least 10 feet in diameter. A sign at the viewpoint (yes, there is a viewpoint for the mine. and yes, I stopped) claims they get about 50,000 miles on those tires, which is actually pretty impressive given what they are driving over, and the loads they're carrying.

After that, we need something nicer to recover... the night sky was amazing for most of this trip; I camped in places that were far from city lights, and it was the dark of the moon when I started. I can't really do good night shots on my camera, but the phone can capture interesting things.

The night before we started hiking. By this time the moon was up for an hour or so after sunset, but we still had good stars.

 Up next, or as soon as I get the photos edited: backpacking the Middle and West forks of the Gila River.

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 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026 

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