Postcard from the Painted Desert

The Journey Continues…

When we last visited, I had just photographed the Little Painted Desert and purchased warmer clothing at the Wal-Mart in Winslow, AZ. Now fully prepared for the weather, I got back in the van…the next destination…the big Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park.

Now, realize that for the next few weeks, I am in all new territory, at least for me. Every mile is a new experience. What a great way to start a new life! It wasn’t a long drive along I-40 to the park. So, I still had good light when I got there.

The Painted Desert is the very north section of the park. I-40 divides the Painted Desert from the Petrified Forest. There is a very convenient circular road that takes you through the Painted Desert and affords some beautiful views of this magnificent country.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the Painted Desert covers much more than what can be seen from the park road. In fact, it covers an area of 7,500 square miles and runs from the very northern part of Arizona down to where I took the above photo.

As mentioned, this part of the Painted Desert is in a national park. But most of it is on Navajo land. Other than the national park section of the desert, it is only accessible by dirt roads or by hiking…and to explore the desert requires a permit from the Navajo Nation.

You should know the Navajo Nation is quite large. In this part of Arizona, it begins just east of Flagstaff. I noticed when I was in Winslow that the majority of the people I encountered were of the Navajo Tribe. Further ahead in this journey I would have many more experiences in the Navajo Nation.  But that was yet to come.

Now, back to the Painted Desert. As I mentioned above, the road into the Painted Desert is circular, although it is not a complete circle. It begins at the National Park entrance station, then circles gently north and west, eventually winding up back on I-40, but this time to the west of the park entrance. In other words, when I finished my photo shoot, I was back on I-40 driving where I had already been. No matter.

As you can see from the photo above the colors are spectacular! I have a few more you can see by visiting my Web site. It’s a place of great beauty. It reminded me of the Painted Hills in Oregon. If you recall, I visited the hills on the first part of my journey.

I left the park and once again headed east on I-40, deeper into the Navajo Nation. Stay tuned…