Unexpected Beauty

When planning our trip home through Fresno, I knew that I wanted to visit New Mexico’s Petroglyphs and Grand Canyon. When Leslie saw that the Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest were on our route, she suggested we stop there on our way.  I wasn’t too enthused at first — particularly by petrified forests — but it, unexpectedly, turned into the scenic highlight of our trip.  It was beautiful when we arrived, with crisp air and sunny skies.  What we thought would be a quick stop turned into an all-day affair, and we didn’t arrive at Flagstaff until dinner time, a late dinner time for us.

We were dodging snow most of the 4,000 miles we drove on our Thanksgiving trip, but I was really glad to see snow at Arizona’s Painted Desert as it contrasted with the brilliant reds of the landscape.  It’s hard to believe that this is a shot of exactly the same location shown yesterday but from the opposite side of the canyon; the snow cover makes it look entirely different.

Of course, the direction of sunlight is probably even more important than snow.  You need the sun behind you to bring out the colors in the landscape.  The visitor’s guide is probably right that the ideal time to see many of the formations is at sunset. That would certainly highlight the red and gold colors.

I’ll have to admit that I was drawn as much by unusual shapes as I was by brilliant colors.

Of course, I don’t object if I can find a subject that has both an interesting shape and brilliant colors.

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