June 11 - Painted Hills

Our last day around John Day Fossil Beds National Monument we drove to the Painted Hills unit to see colorful landscapes. Several short hikes showed us why they call this the Painted Hills. The drive to see them gave us a hint of what we would see when we hiked. 

The view from the Painted Hills Overlook Trail

The wild flowers were in bloom. 

Unfortunately the pictures just don’t capture the beauty of these hills. You’ll just have to visit them for yourselves. 

These pictures are from the Painted Cove Trail. 

 

From Wikipedia: The layers of color for which the site is named can be traced back to cycling periods of wet and dry climate conditions associated with the transition from the Eocene epoch to the cooler, more temperate Oligoceneepoch. The different layers of colors are due to the soil being composed of a combination of mudstone, siltstone, shaleand lignite.

On the way back to the motorhome, we stopped at our favorite brewery … the ONLY brewery in 45 miles. They had blueberry cider and some good IPAs. 

After we got back from the Painted Hills and the Brewery, my day was made even better with a FaceTime call with Arlo. He was all smiles and coos (except for the shot I got). But I think he recognized my voice. That’s what I’m telling myself. 

Tomorrow we visit a Harvest Host Lavender Farm.