Saturday, June 29, 2019

June 29 – To John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Yesterday was rather grey and cool so we just did some shopping and then relaxed.

Today we moved west into Oregon to visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.


 

Once we got off the interstate, we hardly saw anyone. I think only two cars caught up to us and 99% of the time there was not another car in sight.

More wide open sagebrush country but the highway sure was smooth. I always worry when I am on what looks like new highway because we always seem to eventually run into them building it but not today.

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We went over three relatively low mountain passes. Since there were no cars to block I could just chug up them at my leisure.

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It’s nice to see snow capped mountains again.

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We are staying at the Fish House Inn and Rv Park in Dayville, Oregon. It sure is a step up from the last place. There are only 7 sites and they are huge. Full hookups for $35 a night. We have number 7 with some tall trees to give us afternoon shade. It is going to be hot here. The TV satellites are also just out in the open on the edge of the trees so I could still use the rooftop dish.

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It’s kind of funny because we are the largest unit here with just two of us. In that black van in the background, there are two adults, 3 kids and a large dog. In another small class C, there is a brave man with his wife and two kids plus his wife’s parents.

The Monument is divided into 3 units, that are not all that close to each other. We will explore one each day.

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We are near the Sheep Rock Unit by Dayville.

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We first went to the Thomas Condon Visitor’s Center.

To get there you have to go through Picture Canyon.

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The only problem is that there are signs saying that you can’t stop to take pictures. I just stuck the camera out the window.

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From the parking lot you can see Sheep Rock, although I am not sure why it got the name.

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All of the fossils in the area are “young” at under 50 million years old, long after the dinosaurs were gone. The visitor’ center had a large display showing a lot of fossils and describing the different ages that they came from and where in the monument they were found.

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There is  longer hike in this unit that we will do later. Today, we just did two shorts one in the Foree Area.

First a stop to look at Cathedral Rock, on the way.

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The photosphere.

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First up was the Story in Stone Trail. The green colour in the hills is not due to copper but a mineral called celadondite.

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The photosphere.

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The photosphere.

The Flood in Fire Trail takes you up opposite another colourful cliff face.

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The photosphere.

In was very got with no wind and after the long drive, we had had enough.

Heading back to Picture Canyon.

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