The Petrified Forest

After lunch - we headed out to another trail - we got specific directions from the Park Ranger because the map showed the Petrified Forest but not how to get to it - we had to cross some private land to get there and the trail was a 9.5 mile loop...
This is the entrance to the trail - it keeps the ranchers animals out of the park....

We all squeezed through...

...and started the hike...

This spongy ground is so funny to walk on - it's like being on the moon...

This bison was only about 30 feet from the trail - it made me quite nervous - he kept snorting at us and I wanted to give him a wide berth...

Petrified wood is strewn throughout the park - but there is a lot of it here in one place...


Part of a log and it's collapsed table...

The field (or forest) - notice the small cave in the center - we saw several of these and they never seem to be inhabited - maybe they're too unstable...
More petrified wood...
It's amazing how it forms - as each cell is individually replaced by a silica cell - so that the structure of the wood remains intact - it's really just like looking at a piece of wood and then you touch it and it's stone...
a huge log still on it's 'table'...

a stump on a 'table'...

more stumps...

and more stumps - it was getting late when we hiked back out to the truck - the bison was still there - munching away...