June 15, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park

We arrived at this unique park this morning and again,we were surprised. Like I said before, every day is like opening a Christmas present. We settled in and went on a trail through a petrified forest. Some of the wood measures 5ft. wide. They are beautiful! We climbed to the 200-ft. high mesa top, which was once the bottom of an ancient flood plain. About 135 to 155 million years ago, trees up to 100 ft. tall were uprooted and buried in mud during violent flooding. Groundwater permeated the buried trees over millions of years. Because they were in an oxygen free environment, the trees did not decay. Instead, through a complex process, silica solution in the groundwater replacd organic material in the trees, leaving the cell structure intact. Due to erosion, this fallen forest of petrified trees is now exposed. The beautiful and varied colors of petrified wood are caused by the presence of other minerals that enter the wood during the petrifying process. Iron oxides produce orange, red, and yellow, while manganese oxides create blues, blacks and purples. We hope this isn't too boring to you but if I don't write this down, I will forget. You have to see it to really enjoy the process and then imagining the process taking place is neat. The picture of George is one of the nicest pieces of petrified wood. The picture of the two of us is the Willow Dam that is in our park with Escalante in the background. I will tell you about the Escalante Staircase tomorrow. Love