This week on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #150, Dianne assigns the topic of “Let’s Get Wild” and I say let’s get wild with Mother Nature.

On my recent road trip, I visited two Utah State Park – Kodachrome Basin and Petrified Forest. Petrified Forest State Park is located about 2 miles from Escalante, Utah and what is expected to see there, well, you guessed it, a petrified forest.

It’s amazing to see what happens to trees and plants after millions of years. It’s wild to know these trees had lived through the dinosaur era and so much history. This is the home to some of Earth’s oldest trees and some of them are still alive.

When I arrived at the park, I asked the man at the door, “What is there to see in this park?”

“The best way to see this park,” he said, “is to take a short hike around the trail.” He pointed to the mountain to my right. “Turn right and you’ll find the trailhead parking.” Instead, I headed left, I wanted to check out the lake first but it turned out to be a man-made reservoir. So onto the trail we went.