Saturday, 9 October: Holbrook, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, Arizona

Holbrook is a delightful little town with a very colourful past that dates back to the days before Arizona became a state. The Santa Fe Railroad Company had a depot there, and around the railroad station saloons, inns and other buildings were gradually built. There were wild people living there, and Holbrook was considered to be an unfit place for women to live. There were gunfights in the main street regularly before law and order was gradually introduced.

Years later, the historic highway, Route 66, went through Holbrook, and it became famous for that. Route 66 opened in 1926, one of the original US highways. It went from Chicago across the country to Los Angeles. Today Holbrook is quite unspoilt, buildings left abandoned rather than renovated for tourists. Some buildings date back to the wild west days, and the days when the pony express mail couriers rode through, each passing the mail bag to the next rider, rather like a relay race. Some buildings date back to the days when Route 66 was a much used and famous highway. Others are modern buildings, mostly accommodation for the many road travellers who break their journey across Arizona or on their way to the Grand Canyon.

A view of the Painted Desert

Just out of town lies the Painted Desert, a large area of flat ground with mesas and buttes rising steeply, in varying shades of pinks, purples and creams. It really does look as if it was painted.

The Painted Desert merges into an area called the Petrified Forest. This area was once a huge floodplain, forested with tall conifer trees, ferns, cycads and other plants that are now extinct. Small dinosaurs, giant amphibians and crocodile-like reptiles lived there. When trees fell, streams floated them onto the floodplains, where they were buried under layers of silt, mud and volcanic ash, which stopped the wood from decaying. Water carrying minerals and silica seeped into the wood. Eventually the silica crystallised into quartz and the logs were preserved as stone - petrified wood. Petrified wood comes in many colours, according to the minerals in the silica-laden water. It is surprisingly heavy, a cubic foot (a foot is about 1/3 metre) weighing about 91 kg (200 pounds).

Remains of a kiva

There were human settlements in the area, around 1100-1300 AD. There are remains of an Indian pueblo, probably homes for about 18 families. There are only foundations left, but the outlines of small rooms can be clearly seen. The rooms and walls enclosed a courtyard in which there was a kiva, or below ground room for religious ceremonies, probably involving only the men. There are several places where there are ancient rock paintings or petroglyphs.

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are both protected National Parks.