Menu

Category: Painted Desert

Sky Watch Friday – On the road again…

Sunset taken over the Painted Desert of Arizona
Had a great time visiting friends in Yarnell and now time to head back up to the North Rim. Only two weeks left to my season. How the time will fly. My next days off I’m going to Toroweap with C, another Ranger. And my last days off I’ll be hiking rim to rim with friends from Washington. Then hook up to my 5th-wheel house and haul it home to Yarnell for the winter. Maybe Mexico the end of October… Ahhh, life is Grand! The end of everyday followed by the beginning of a new.

To see more skies from around the world, or to share your own, go to the Sky Watch Friday meme by clicking here.

Arizona, making plans, Painted Desert, Sky Watch Friday, sunset 19 Comments

MWT – Road trip photos Highway 89 Arizona

Fall Aspen and Douglas Fir in Kaibab National Forest
I left the North Rim at 3:15pm. Along the meadows Aspen showed their finest gold to orange colors, sometimes like a fence or mixed into the towering evergreens.

Vermilion Cliffs
As I droped about 3000 feet off the Kaibab Plateau to House Rock Valley the temperature increased from fall back to summer.

Vermilion Cliffs
Back in the 1870s John Wesley Powell named this magnificent 3000 foot escarpment appropriately.

After crossing the Colorado River the highway turns south and parallels Echo Cliffs. The moon was up as the sun went down…

…enhancing the colors of the Painted Desert.

And the sunset was spectacular.

Sunset over Humphreys Peak
Unfortunately I didn’t make it to Flagstaff until after dark.

That is the moon
All photos were taken while I was driving. Some come out better than others. The road is smooth yet full of dips.

Made it to the KOA RV Park where I’ve camped several times before. Always get good WIFI. Tomorrow I drive the rest of the way to Yarnell.

To see glimpses into life around the world, or to share your own, go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

Arizona, Echo Cliffs, Highway 89, Humphreys Peak, My World Tuesday, Painted Desert, road trip, sunset, Vermilion Cliffs 22 Comments

Passing through geologic time at Painted Desert Arizona

From ancient ruins at Wupatki through geologic time at Painted Desert.
Old bridge over the Little Colorado River Cameron Arizona
Bridge over Little Colorado River
When you cross the Little Colorado River at Cameron on Highway 89 North you enter the western edge of the Painted Desert. SR 89 N Painted Desert Arizona
Enter The Painted Desert
During the Early Triassic, about 250 million years ago, the mass of all continents known as Pangaea began to drift apart between North America and Africa.
Painted Desert Arizona
The west coast of North America subsided into a flat plain and when sea levels rose these plains were covered with seawater. When the level dropped the exposed land was covered with a deposit of Kaibab limestone. SR 89 N Painted Desert Arizona
Because eastern North America had the highest mountainous land at the time, rivers flowed westward to the low coastal plains. The slow moving waters deposited mostly red mudstone and very fine-grained sandstone. Painted Desert Arizona
At the same time tidal flows deposited gray mudstone and tan limestone. All these layers represent the Moenkopi Formation. SR89 through Painted Desert Arizona
During the Middle Triassic deposition stopped and erosion began possibly due to climate change, a drop in sea level or a slight uplift of the Colorado Plateau region.
Painted Desert Arizona
In the late Triassic, about 215 million years ago, the region again subsided and stream deposits filled valleys and river cuts with sediment of very coarse-grained sandstone and pebble conglomerate known as the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation. Painted Desert Arizona
As rivers continued to dominate the landscape mudstones in shades of red, gray, brown, purple, tan, orange and pink were deposited as water flooded over the river banks.
Painted Desert Arizona
In addition, ash from exploding volcanoes fell on the Chinle river plains and eventually decomposed to clay with oxidized iron and manganese that give the rocks more vivid color.
SR89 north Painted Desert Arizona
Echo Cliffs on right
The Painted Desert is referred to by some Native Americans as a “land of sleeping rainbows.” Native American vendors along SR89 Painted Desert Arizona
Native Americans sell arts & crafts along the road
Much of the Painted Desert region is located within the Navajo Nation. The Navajo and the Hopi people have lived in the region for at least one thousand years, however the modern name for the desert comes from the Spaniards who named it “el Desierto Pintado” due to its brightly colored landscape.
Vermilion and Echo Cliffs SR89 N Arizona
Vermilion Cliffs in distance & Echo Cliffs on right
From the flat plain of the Painted Desert I continued up Echo Cliffs towards Page and the Glen Canyon Dam.
Arizona, National Parks and Monuments, Painted Desert , , 8 Comments

Lijit

© Copyright 2008-2024. Geogypsytraveler.com