Rain

Raindrops in Pothole at Little Ruin Canyon

It has been raining for a few days now. Rain in the desert is a very different experience than I have had in other places. It does not seem to be the damper here that it can so often be elsewhere. It is more of a cause for excitement and renewal. On a very wet day last week I visited two other national park sites, and in each, I was encouraged in some very pleasant ways to enjoy and celebrate the rain.

I made a brief stop at Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in northeastern Arizona.

Hubbell Trading Post NHS Entrance

It is the oldest, continuously operating trading post in the Navajo Nation. John Lorenzo Hubbell opened his post in Ganado in 1876. It remains an active trading post today, operated by Western National Parks Association. It is a place for nearby residents of the Navajo Nation to get basic supplies and a marketplace to sell park visitors the blankets, rugs, jewelry, and other items created by Navajo artisans.

Hubbell Trading Post

When I entered the trading post building, I was met by a delightful young Navajo woman working for Western National Parks Association, the cooperating association that now runs the trading post.  As I opened the door to let myself in she asked me to hold the door so she could step outside and smell the wonderful rain. She told me that it was such a rare treat to have a rainy day as it is almost always sunny there. As she made her way outside the trading post building, I vicariously enjoyed the way she celebrated the fragrance of the rainy morning.

Above the Door to Hubbell Trading Post

From Hubbell Trading Post, I traveled south and west a bit to Petrified Forest National Park. It was an unplanned destination but when I realized it was only an hour away, I could not stop myself from visiting. Between Hubbell and Petrified Forest I passed through an area of higher elevation and drove through wet snow for a stretch of ten or fifteen miles. It was along that section of mountain roads that I first experienced the sensation of wet sagebrush. The heady aroma was inhaled by my car’s ventilation system and I was engulfed in pungent delight. By the time I arrived at Petrified Forest, I was back in the rain.

Petrified Forest National Park Entrance

I made my way to the entrance station where I was greeted by a ranger who checked my annual pass and then admonished me to not collect any petrified wood during my visit. I assured her I would not and as I was about to put the car back in gear and head along the road she paused and then stated how lucky I was to be there on a rainy day. She told me that the rain really accentuated the colors in the park. I was getting a sense that there was something to this special attitude about the rain. Both women treated the rain as something to celebrate, a notion that buoyed my spirits. I have often countered comments about “bad weather” by saying that weather is simply a fact, and that whether we see it as “bad” or “good” is a function of our attitude. I was so pleased that these two park employees had a really positive attitude about the rain.

Indeed, in Petrified Forest, the colors of the landscape were vivid and had a special shine. My first stops were in the Painted Desert section of the park.

Painted Desert at Petrified Forest NP

In addition to giving the landscape a freshly-scrubbed brilliance, the rain showed itself as the very force that carved this unique area of “badlands.” It was as if I could actually see the individual raindrops joining forces to form rivulets flowing off of and bisecting the soft rock formations.

"Badlands" at Petrified Forest NP

Indeed, the Painted Desert was anything but stark. In the vivid colors, though muted by the overcast sky, I could see that special quality the park ranger at the entrance had alluded to. I was seeing the desert in one of its many spectacular moods.

Painted Desert Rim Trail Wayside

And I had yet to see any petrified wood. I soon crossing the historic Route 66 corridor, marked by the frame of an old car and the abandoned line of power poles.

Route 66 Corridor at Petrified Forest NP

A short distance south of the old highway route I came into the Jasper Forest area of the park and began to see petrified wood pieces scattered on the ground. The wood-turned-to-stone shone with a glow unmatched by any lapidary.

Jasper Forest at Petrified Forest NP

Some petrified logs were even emerging from the eroding layers of earth in which they had been buried for unfathomable time, again revealing the power of the collective raindrops to both change and reveal the landscape

Logs Emerging from Badlands in Petrified Forest NP

Once in the Rainbow Forest section of the park, I was in a magical land of color and form unmatched in my experience.

Stump in Petrified Forest NP

There were entire logs that had been turned to stone some millions of years before me and the variegated colors of the agatized wood were polished and vivid in the rain.

Along the Long Logs Trail at Petrified Forest NP

Here at Hovenweep the rain is has turned the paths to mud in places and softened the dirt roads to the outlier sections of the park to a greasy, impassable slurry. My rainy day venture to the Cajon Group, along the “best” of the roads, one that is gravel rather than mud much of the way, saw the NPS truck sliding a bit on the freshly deposited and liquefied silt as if I were on a sheet of ice. The mud gets everywhere as well, even decorating the vehicle. I must say, my co-workers were proud of my work. Well, at least they noticed.

My Work

Rain in the high desert is an all encompassing, multi-sensory experience. The sounds and sensation of walking in mud made of fine red silt causes one to tread cautiously and to enjoy the slurping of feet as they are extricated, at least somewhat, from the earth’s sucking grasp. With each step, your feet get a bit heavier, as you become an active part of the soil transport process. The mud remains on boots and stains the cuffs of khaki pants as if being branded by experience. I won’t mention the permanent relationship it has with carpet fibers.

Footprints in Mud, Little Ruin Canyon

Then there are the scents.

Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

Of all the scents resulting from desert rain, most powerful and evident is that from the sagebrush. The volatile oils in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) are water-soluble. The upshot of this is a quick change in the air when it rains, or when it snows. The heady aroma of sage permeates the air, and at times, can make one feel light-headed. Whether walking on the mesa or in the canyons, the scent of sage is inescapable in the rain. Sagebrush is powerful stuff. We don’t know if the ancestral Puebloans at Hovenweep used it as food or medicine, though it has frequently shown up in studies of middens and fire pits. It is very likely that sagebrush was used for fuel. Navajo people have used sagebrush in numerous ways. Medicinally it has been used to treat corns, stomachaches, headaches, fever, and to ease childbirth. Sage tobacco has been uses by the Navajo in a wide variety of rituals. It has also been used to make dyes (wool can be colored yellow, green, and gold with the leaves and twigs), leaves have been used as a toilet paper, and the branches have been used to make fire drills. Scientists have identified antimicrobial qualities of the essential oils in big sagebrush. With its powerful aroma, sagebrush has always made its presence known. Perhaps that has led to its many uses.

In addition to the sage, the musky smell of cliffrose and the sweetness of the rabitbrush are accentuated by rain.

Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana)

Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa)

The rain also replenishes the land. In an area with an average of just less than 11 inches of precipitation annually, rain is a rare treat. It removes a pervasive layer of dust from the plants and rocks, giving a cleansing and polish to the landscape. And the rain resupplies the canyonhead seeps and springs while filling potholes on the canyon rims. Some potholes are very short-lived, others are more permanent, providing breeding areas for all manner of insects, amphibians, and other organisms.

Potholes Above Little Ruin Canyon

When looked at from so many persectives, rain in the desert is by no means a burden. It is essential to the survival of all desert organisms and, for me, rain calls attention to the true beauty of the land.

Rainbow at Sunset on the way to Blanding