Yup, that's shale. Pretty common stuff on mountains, and the angle of the bedding demonstrates the uplifting of the mountain, many millions of years ago.
Silliness.
Yup, it's shale, no doubt. Wood cannot petrify in 7,000 years and would not do so on an exposed mountain side. It take a lot of external pressure to drive minerals into wood and can only happen by being buried.
Nice try. Send it to Art Bell.