We left Sedona somewhat hesitantly as often do when departing a newly favored site. We knew we had infinitely more vistas and experiences to capture down the road, but this place had been a wonderment. We filled the water tank, brought on five gallons of drinking water, gassed up Nell and Quicksilver, bought necessities at the Basha’s supermarket, and headed northeast. Somewhere between Flagstaff and Canyon de Chelly was our destination for the next two days. I scoped out some possible boon docking sites off of I 40 with the notion that one of them would probably work out for us. As it turned out, there is a great little spot just south of Winslow, AZ ( as in the song, “Take it Easy” by the Eagles ) on a small little lake oasis formed from Cottonwood Creek. We found a level site right on the bank of the lake and settled in for a short stay. Grebes and assorted waterfowl appreciated the lake and were hesitant to leave for the winter. Perhaps they didn’t want to attempt the long flight over the desert this time and decided to stay...migrants no longer. They punctuated our visit with their cackling and calling out to each other. It was a peaceful place.
While stationed at our oasis we ventured out to take in Meteor Crater, Painted Desert, and Petrified Forest. What a tremendous visit this was. In retrospect, we should have planned to stay here for a week. Each one of these geographic phenomenas is elegant as well as complex in their history, causation, and enduring effect on the area. Meteor Crater, for instance, is 555’ deep, a mile or so across, and something like 2.25 miles in circumference. To think that this crater was caused by a meteor 150’ across is a stunning realization of what a lasting impression relatively small things in space that come crashing to our planet can have. The visitor center at Meteor Crater does an excellent job of educating not only the cause of this particular crater, but of the various and perhaps innumerable crashes our planet has endured over billions of years. As the moon is the result of one such ginormous crash, it now shields us from terrifying and life-altering crashes to come. We are where, what, and how we are through the transforming majesty of crashing comets.
Equally impressive is the visitor center at Petrified Forest. They equate and put into perspectives how the forest came to be. The give you the visual impressions of what this area looked and felt like when the trees first fell. Skeletons and fossils from the contemporary time frame are displayed beautifully.
When we circulated through the Forest and the Painted Desert, nature reminded us who was in charge out here. 40 miler per hour steady wind buffeted us constantly as we tried to walk through the various littered fields of iron oxidized tree trunks. It was plain cold. What sustained us, though, was the richness of color in the place. Iron in the wood, depending upon its alloyed makeup, can turn any number of colors...from bright yellow and orange hues to blue and purple.
We should have stayed for at least a week, hiking and experiencing the areas more than we did. We will return. To consider that you can actually touch a former living thing intact in its original casing that transcends time by 200+ million years astonishes. I find it unfathomable, yet, there it is...touch it.