December 2019 - The Petrified Forest
The petrified forest is one of those places that I've just never made it out to before. I thought it was just some occasional bits of petrified wood scattered here and there that are basically stone but with tree rings. I was blown away to find entire massive petrified trees that look so life-like you'd be certain they're wood until you touch them and feel the cold stone. It's a really incredible place. At the bottom are a few birds that we saw in Phoenix.
The petrified forest is one of those places that I've just never made it out to before. I thought it was just some occasional bits of petrified wood scattered here and there that are basically stone but with tree rings. I was blown away to find entire massive petrified trees that look so life-like you'd be certain they're wood until you touch them and feel the cold stone. It's a really incredible place. At the bottom are a few birds that we saw in Phoenix.
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| Petrified log, looks so incredibly real | A deep red | A large fallen petrified tree |
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| Knots perfectly reproduced in stone | ||
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| Another large tree | Such realistic looking bark! | The level of detail is pretty stunning |
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| You wouldn't believe it is stone without touching it | ||
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| Petrified root structure | ||
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| Great color | The whole area is strewn with petrified logs | You can see bits of petrified wood all over the place |
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| An especialy colorful log, with an incredibly woody exterior | ||
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| A beautiful log that looked exactly like a fallen redwood | Except for where it was fractured into brilliant purple stone | |
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| A long, incredibly lifelike tree | Walking up, we were sure that this one was a real fallen tree that happened to be the only one in the area, and not petrified | |
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| When we got right up to it, we were even more certain that it was real. You can clearly see the wood chips. | It wasn't until we touched it that and felt the code stone that we knew it was petrified | |
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| It looks like a small log, but it's a very heavy stone | This one even looks like it's mossy | |
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| It couldn't possibly look more woody | ||
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| Another incredibly lifelike petrified tree | The ground is littered with stone "wood" chips | |
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| They're cold and feel like stone, but look exactly like wood to the finest levels of detail | There sure are a lot of them! | |
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| Besides the petrified forest, it's pretty barren desert | ||
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| Beautiful banded buttes | A large rock covered in petroglyphs | |
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| Beautiful red pained desert | ||
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| A common raven | A house sparrow | The triton cactus |
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| An Anna's hummingbird in dramatic lighting | The stunning red reflection | |
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| A Say's phoebe, enjoying the suburban life | A lovely pair of Gambel's quails | The female strutting around |
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