Petrified National Forest

"Do you have any rocks in your vehicle?" That was the first thing the blonde booth attendant asked me as I entered the Petrified National Forest from the southern entrance. I didn't expect that for my welcoming remark, but indeed I had many small sandstone pebbles in my van's door cupboard. I had to hand them all over to the blonde so she could place them in a clear plastic bag, seal it and return it to me. All rocks and debris are prohibited from being gathered and collected from within the national park.

My morning started out cold when I let the dogs out at 6am for their pee break. I was up too late and missed the free hot breakfast offered next door at Suzie's Cafe; I got there at 9:15am and the grumpy server was not willing to grant me a pass. I was upset with myself as I could have used a hot breakfast since I paid for that with my hotel room. I had cold chocolate donuts, a cola and some other junk to hold me over.

I drove quickly through town to check out the Wigwam Motel, small motel rooms built to look like wigwams but are otherwise just very small hotel rooms at $56.25 in the off-season. This motel for some reason is a big attraction off Route 66. Classic cars are parked outside each wigwam, property of the hotel owner's brother. There were plenty of people stopping by this place like me to take photos.

Dogs are allowed in the Petrified National Forest but they must remain on leashes and on the maintained trail. There are over seven miles of trails in this park, with two of them over two-miles long. The first stop for me coming from the southern entrance was the Long Log Trail connected to the Agate House trail, together combining for a 2.6-mile trail on mostly asphalt. Sadie pulled the entire time, making the trail unenjoyable. After that I opted to keep the dogs in the cooler van--it was already 74F when we entered the park at 10am--foresaking exercise for both the dogs and me. I couldn't enjoy the park as much as I had planned.

The various fossilized logs in this area are truly amazing, and the soil make-up with its diverse colors even more impressive. But after 23 miles of just driving and short overlooks, there's not much to see or do in this park with dogs tagging around. And, again to my anger, I did not see one Native American employed at this park. And this park is within the Navajo reservation! The National Park Services has got to hire more Native Americans since so many of the national parks are in or near Indian reservations. It doesn't require a biology major from Idaho to work as park booth attendant.

I tried to enjoy the park despite my anger at the NPS. I stopped at every rest stop where I could park safely and I walked a few of the trails without the dogs. There were plenty of people on the asphalt trails, and plenty more RVers cruising through. The road that travels north-south allows for no pulling over to photograph the landscape. Parking is only allowed in the rest stops along the way.

Christopher told me I had to see the Blue Mesa, an area of fascinating buttes on the northern side. He was right about making sure to see this. This also had a one-mile trail that looped downhill, but I didn't want to torture the dogs with the hot asphalt. I took a few panoramic shots and left, stopping again at the Painted Desert at Kachina Point (where there is a lodge) before leaving the park. Kachina Point is popular at sunset where the waning sun casts golden hues across the landscape. 

My presence in the park was a mere four hours long, although I could have easily stayed longer to hike all the trails had the dogs not been with me. This is not a very friendly park, but National Park Service rangers are seldom friendly anyway, since their primary job is to be law enforcers. Perhaps the rangers at this park take lessons from Yosemite park rangers on how to act disgruntled and rude.

I was glad to get out of this park, although I also left a tad disappointed. Yes, the park has some beautiful vistas that deserve further exploration, but when will I have the chance to return to this place?

The northern entrance/exit of the park comes off I-10 and back into Holbrook. I drove south on AZ77 for close to 50 miles, fighting fatigue since I had had no caffeine, which took me to Show Low. It was another straight but uphill climb to the town that last summer was on the edge of the horrific Wallow Fire, Arizona's largest wildfire with over 538,049 acres total burned; 15,407 acres in N.M. It started on May 29th in the Bear Wallow Canyon by two negligent cousins, Caleb and David Malboeuf, who went hiking but didn't properly extinguish their camp fire. High winds quickly spread the fire in a northeasterly direction. They had tied their two dogs to trees nearby, and these two dogs became the fire's first victims. At least 32 homes were destroyed and five were damaged. The men were slapped on the wrist with a $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail just this past Tuesday in federal court, a rather cheap fine considering it cost millions to suppress this fire.