Day 18 – Another work day.

I went to Atomic rock and walked around for an hour looking for petrified wood. Found a few decent-sized samples. This is outside the park on BLM land so I can keep the rocks. However, if I had found any archeological artifacts, I would have to leave them alone. Last month in a nearby town, several people were arrested for illegal trafficking in ancient Indian artifacts. They seized 2 moving van loads full of artifacts. If you have ever been to Mesa Verde and seen the cliff dwellings, well there are similar, if not as large, dwellings all over the 4 corners area. I mean all over. In our park there are estimated to be 500 such and Natural Bridges is a small park.

The dark star program tonight is great. We saw a few meteors, which always lend an air of excitement for their unpredictability. Little gasps of excitement announce their arrival. Jupiter rises about 10:30. The king of the planets. The skies are clear for the entire time and the Milky Way is once again the star of the show, pun intended. I think I want to move here, just for the skies. Unfortunately, I have not been able to take any decent photos of the dark sky due to the limit of 16 second exposure of my digital camera. I need a camera with a bulb setting. Anybody want to ship me one ;-)

Oh, and no pictures today.