Our first hike today went to the Agate House. It is an abandoned house built of petrified wood sitting at the top of a hill. The petrified wood is held together by some type of concrete.
This was the view the resident of this house had.
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There was an abundance of material available nearby if they ever wanted to expand their home.
The land in the area was rolling and relatively flat. We still saw hills and mounds on our hike.
On our way to and from the Agate House, we saw many larger petrified trees. They approached a diameter of five feet.
The Giant Logs Trail and the Rainbow Forest Museum and Visitor Center were in the same area as the Agate House Trail. We walked to the museum and hiked the Giant Logs Trail. The Giant Logs Trail had the largest petrified trees we saw.
While the trees in the area were huge, they were quite spread out.
The openness of the area let us see long distances.
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After the Giant Logs Trail, we drove to Agate Bridge. Agate Bridge is a petrified tree that spans a gap. It had managed to remain in one piece suspended in air. In 1903, a railroad company built the masonry work to support it. They wanted to save a tourist attraction. They also built a small covered viewing spot near the Agate Bridge.
We had expected to see the Agate Bridge and move on to our next stop, but there were some interesting valleys close by so we went to investigate.
The colors of the layered hills and the open valley were beautiful.
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Our last hike for the day was at Blue Mesa. It was an amazing walk up and down and around hills that were filled with a vast array of colors. Because of the wide variety of colors and shapes, we took lots of pictures.
We started at the top of the mesa and then climbed down. From the top, you could see far into the distance.
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You could also see down into the valleys of Blue Mesa.
Down in the valleys between the hills, you could not see as far. The multitude of colors and shapes more than made up for the closer quarters.
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From the bottom of the valley, we could see many places where petrified trees were sliding down the passes between the hills. There were large and small pieces of petrified trees everywhere. The most interesting locations were the trees perched sideways on pedestals on top of small rises in the valley.
We spent a great deal of time walking in the valleys, enjoying the views, and admiring the artistry of all the colors.
It was finally time to leave the lower part of Blue Mesa and climb back up to the top. We took a break at a conveniently located bench. We sat for a time looking back over the valley and out to the horizon.
We spent the late afternoon and evening driving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a pleasant drive. The autumn colors were a nice surprise.
It was another great day in another wonderful national park.