Northern Arizona 2020

After surprising Carol’s Mom for her 90th birthday in Alpine, AZ, we visited Sedona, with stops in the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

Along the way from Alpine to Sedona we first stopped at the Petrified Forest. Our childhood memories made us question whether we should stop, but we are so glad we did! There are several great walks/hikes in the park that provide beautiful views and of course amazing rocks! Also, realizing the context of the park makes it even more amazing…

The Petrified Forest preserves rock formations containing fossils of giant amphibians, mammals and plants back to the Triassic period 200 – 250 million years ago. The time perspective is interesting too … “ie: Imagine that the 4.6 billion years of Earth’s history is a single calendar year. The first microscopic for of life may have appeared in July. The Triassic period represented by the rocks of the Petrified Forest occurred about mid-December, when dinosaurs first appeared. By early morning December 27, the last dinosaur died. Humans did not appear until 11:15 pm on December 31!”

After the Petrified forest, we continued on to visit the Painted Desert. The badlands terrain has incredibly varied colors of the clay and sandstone that are stacked and then reformed as a result of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods and sunlight. It is truly a unique and beautiful area. 

After our visits to The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, we continued on to Sedona. We stayed outside of the town at the Enchantment Resort, which is located at the beginning of the Boynton Canyon. We enjoyed a couple days of hiking and took the following trails; Boynton Canyon, Doe Mountain, Oak Creek Canyon – West Fork, Brins Mesa and Jordan Cibola Pass. 

Petrified Forest

Painted Desert

Boynton Canyon hike

Doe Mountain hike

West Fork Trail - Oak Creek Canyon

Brins Mesa & Jordan Cibola Pass hike