May 10, 2017 — This hike follows an old trail in Petrified Forest National Park that is no longer "official", but is still well-worn enough that it shouldn't be too much trouble to follow. After leaving the trailhead and leading through the flat desert, the trail winds through the gorgeous blue and purple landscape for a while and then joins with the paved and popular hike called the Blue Mesa Trail. For this short loop section (orange on my map) I follow the easy, paved trail around a gorgeous series of brightly colored dirt piles with great overlooks into the Painted Desert. I hiked up to the popular Blue Mesa Trailhead (coordintes here: 34.9392911, -109.7563827) before getting back onto the Blue Forest trail to complete the loop.
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