Cory wrote: "Painted Hills are listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Central Oregon. They are named after the colorful layers of the hills corresponding to various eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain. The black soil is lignite which is vegetative matter that grew alongside the floodplain. The grey color is mudstone, siltstone and shale. The red coloring is laterite soil formed by floodplain deposits when the area was warm and humid. An abundance of fossil remains of early horses, camels and rhinoceroses in the area make the Painted Hills area particularly important to vertebrate paleontologists. The Painted Hills are protected and have an abundance of short trails for viewing. Walking on the Hills is prohibited."
In addition to the Painted Hills, Cory photographed the Blue Basin. She tells us, " The Blue Basin is centered on an outcrop of grey-bluegreen colored badlands, very heavily eroded with no vegetation and split by a branched ravine. The Basin is one of the more important fossil sites in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The brightly colored rocks were originally volcanic ash, resulting from eruptions around 29 million years ago. They really are this color, it's surreal.
Thanks Cory. One day we may get up there and shoot these with you. Would be fun and you can be our guide.
