Travelling from Arizona to Southwest Colorado...

Following the Overland Expo, we continued our route through Arizona and New Mexico heading toward Colorado.  Our route included an unexpected junction with another section of Route 66 before stopping to enjoy the Petrified Forest National Park and some great mountain biking along the way to our first visit to the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, CO (next post).



While passing through Holbrook, AZ on a portion of the original Route 66, we came across the historic Wigwam Motel.  Built in 1950, the motel is arranged as a square, with 15 concrete and steel wigwams on three sides and the main office on the fourth; there was also originally a gas station on the complex.  The base diameter is 14 feet (4.3 m), with each unit 32 feet (9.8 m) in height. Behind the main room of each unit is a small bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. Current rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture, two double beds, cable TV and a window-mounted air conditioner. In keeping with the authenticity of the restoration, there are no telephones, Internet access or ice machine. Vintage restored automobiles from the 1960s and earlier are located throughout the parking area



Petrified Forest National Park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona is known for its large deposits of petrified wood.  Downed trees accumulating in river channels about 225 million years ago were buried periodically by sediment containing volcanic ash.  Groundwater dissolved silica from the ash and carried it into the logs, where it formed quartz crystals that gradually replaced the organic matter. 



Beginning about 60 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau, of which the park is part, was pushed upward by tectonic forces and exposed to increased erosion.  In addition to petrified logs, fossils found in the park have included ferns, and many other plants as well as fauna including giant reptiles, large amphibians, and early dinosaurs.

As the ground around it erodes away, petrified trees once buried deep become exposed to the elements and often break into smaller pieces.



Todd and Chip hiking down into the "Blue Badlands" area of the Petrified Forest National Park.  Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water.



"Newspaper Rock" in the Petrified Forest National Park contains more than 650 petroglyph images pecked, carved or etched into the rock by ancestral Puebloan people between 650 and 2000 years ago.



Chip and Todd getting in some mountain biking at "Phil's World" near Cortez, CO.  Our friends Scott and Heather had recently biked there and raved about the "smooth and fast" trails on their blog.  These trails were so sweet, we spent an extra day there just to get in more fun!



Phil's World doesn't have large changes in elevation, but does a great job of making really fun trails through a desert type landscape.




Shonah enjoying the trails at Phil's world.




As Shonah was rounding a corner on the trail, he was met by this guy who didn't want to give way.  There wasn't a good alternative route around him, so a few rocks tossed in his direction and he finally moved off the trail..

After getting our fill of trail riding at Phil's World, we moved on to Durango, CO for the weekend.  Prior visits to Durango did not include enough time to explore their famous river and biking trails, so we made sure to explore them during this visit.  Chip, Todd and Shonah biking the Telegraph, Anasazi, and Sidewinder trails, part of the Horse Gulch Trails System in Durango, CO.