THE ROAD TO FLAGSTAFF...
In this chapter, our heroes continue their slow march towards the promised land...Flagstaff, AZ...
So we left off with Shadow & I buzzing as we departed Querqsville. We made it as far as El Malpais National monument, which at that point was just a green blip on Google Maps we figured had free camping, and since we were steadily nodding off like a memorabilia bobble head, one white knuckled hand tightly gripping the wheel, the other wrapped around a styrofoam coffee cup, we decided to head into green blip country and try our luck at finding a campsite. El Malpais is Spanish for "bad lands", so named because it's badass and contains ancient lava flows that will stab you through your sneakers and tear you to shreds if you pull an awkward turtle and fall backwards upon the jagged floor. Obviously we didn't go near those ancient bad lands, not because I'm scared of a little intense back country hiking, but Shadow's paws were already feeling cracked and rough from the Querq's dry weather....Seriously...It was bothering him....
So we woke up to this instead...
Yeah I posted a bunch of different pictures of the same thing...Why? Because earlier I promised this would be the longest post. I'm just trying to keep my word guys...
We then hit the road towards the promised land...But since we needed a National Park Pass for our eventual excursions into The Valley and other places, we decided to check out Petrified Forest National Park, one of the coolest things that exist in the hottest part of the absolute middle of nowhere. Seriously, it was so hot and dry, I think we were fried...almost petrified...or mummified...or.......you get it.
You can pull off I-40 and drive south through the Park, or come up from the middle of nowhere and drive north through it, which is precisely what we did since we spent the night in the Badlands to the south east of the Park. At any rate, when we arrived, we made a stop at the Crystal Forest for a short hike. Here's what we saw...
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| South Entrance of Petrified Forest NP |
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| In a picture, petrified wood looks like normal wood |
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| But a close up will show that the wood is not only petrified, but mineralized... |
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The process by which these crystals were deposited is so complicated
that I will simply refer to it was magic |
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| They call it the Crystal Forest... |
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| All I see is dead logs...WOOF! |
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| With the right camera angle, even dead logs look enchanted |
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| behold the magic... |
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| Holy crap...I just got really thirsty |
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| Here's another view, in case you didn't notice the crystals... |
Well, that certainly was a spectacular 3/4 mile hike in the driest environment I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. We lapped up 15 gallons of water each and then drove northward through the park...
The best part of the Petrified Forest National Park (PFNP) is the blue mesa trail. I'll let the pictures do the talking...
Here's a view of the Painted Desert, to the north of the park (as we were exiting)...
After this wonderful day, we finished up the drive to Flagstaff, AZ. We spent the night in the Coconino National Forest, just a few miles north of the city (so close you feel like you never left town), and dropped into town the next day for REI's anniversary sale and some tea at Macy's European Coffee House, which, due to their Vegan friendly dishes, WiFi, and friendly atmosphere, I highly recommend! REI was obviously awesome, and a very pretentious and full of himself climber employee tuned my bike for free! I ignored his braggadocios comments while I drooled over cams and ropes. Since they had a 25% off Mammut Ropes sale, I purchased a 9.5mm Infinity (which I had fallen in love with when Chris & I were sport climbing near Albuquerque), but since they didn't have any in stock, they held one for me in the Las Vegas REI...So I figured Red Rock was my next destination! I also got a Half Dome Helmet to be prepared for Yosemite.
But before then, we def had to make a stop at the Grand Canyon...
We were approaching the South Rim entrance to the Grand Canyon as the final rays of sunlight were cast upon the road ahead of us. Had we known the park was open 24 hours, we would have continued to the South Rim. But since I had done a total of 0 seconds of planning for this trip, I figured it was closed, and pulled off a few miles shy of the entrance to set up camp in the designated dispersed camping areas that help to minimize overflow traffic in peak season. It was a nice spot, and we planned to wake up early to reach the rim...
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| Shadow's Excited! |
In the morning, as we got closer to the South Rim, I pulled into a McDonalds (not to purchase food! I had to drop the kids off at the pool). Upon pulling in, I noticed two large Elk feeding next to the lot. I thought it was a normal everyday scene, so I ignored the grazing creatures and did my duty in the McDeez bathroom. When I came out, I was surprised at two things. One, the sun was up (i just missed it). Two, there was a swarm of interesting creatures surrounding the Elk, pointing things at it. Oh...they were toursists...pointing cameras 5 feet away from the animals...wonderful. I figured I was as big a tourist as any of these geeks, being from Florida and all, so I whipped out my camera and made like I was doing a photo shoot, turning the camera angle from portrait to landscape every other shot (like Austin Powers...yeah baby yeah!) I managed a few shots before a guy literally pulled his RV between me and the Elk. There was barely any room for such a douche bag maneuver, I mean hardly and physical space for his RV to fit without killing me, but somehow this A**hole managed it, completely blocking my view of the Elk, or anything for that matter. I left, feeling as disgusted as I would have if I actually ate food at this McDiarrheas...
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| no way! herbivores! Let's Shoot em' (pun intended) |
I pulled up to the Entrance and flashed my annual park pass, then nearly ran over a coyote. I literally snapped this picture with one hand while the other was handling the steering wheel. I'm embarrassed to admit that this is only the second one I've ever seen (I almost ran one over last week driving towards Albuquerque).
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| This little dude will never fully realize how close he was to becoming roadkill |
Anyways, we got there pretty early, and spent the morning appreciating the great expanse before us. The whole scene was pretty unreal. These photos came out ok, for a pseudo novice photography noob, but they fail miserably in conveying several things; the exposure of being on the edge of the cliff, the feeling of smallness when the wind threatens to blow you off, and the overwhelming sense of Zen paired with pretty much no thought happening in my frontal lobe...
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| Dangling... |
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| From my position in space and time, this girl's position was Epic... |
As we left the park, I knew that I had laid eyes upon a very special place...It was so awe inspiring...and as I drove away I couldn't help but think to myself...
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| I really wonder what my hair looks like by now... |
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| Probably like some awesome modern hipster swag... |
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| Right? |
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Nah...we'll just keep this hat on for awhile
Stay Tuned for Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas!
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