Postcard from the Road - The Painted Hills

My first day on the road was an ambitious one, to say the least. Leaving 16 years of memories and friendships behind, miles of driving on unknown back roads, explorations of fossil beds going back 50 million years, and finally getting to my first destination, the Painted Hills of Oregon. Most of the day was overcast, with short burst of sunlight followed by more clouds. But, by late afternoon as I arrived at the Painted Hills, the clouds cleared away leaving glorious sunshine with just a few well placed clouds to make my pictures better. I photographed like crazy as beautiful warm red light and wonderful clouds don't happen every day.

The first photo shows the large main section of the Painted Hills, but is only one section of many, all smaller than this one. This section is quite large as you can see. The colors come from different volcanic eruptions that occur over millions of years. It is a very complicated process, too much to explain here. This area is one of three areas of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The other area I visited was called Sheep Rock and contains different colors of fossil beds, from green to blue to red to pink to white. I will have more photos of these in the future.

The second photo is a different section of the Painted Hills, about three miles away. It is the first ones you see when driving in from the main highway. Obviously, its primary color is a stunning red that almost takes your breath away. Throw in some other colors and you have a spectacular feast for the eyes.

The Painted Hills are a photographer's dream, especially in the right light. It is a good place for me to start my journey of self rediscovery. Still I felt the pressure of taking many photos from different angles while I still had the light. I went up and down different trails looking for that "perfect" image. I have lots to choose from.

I haven't quite figured out all this walkabout stuff and it really hasn't hit me yet what I am really doing. For now, I am just traveling, looking for great photo opportunities in strange new places, trying to beat out winter before it hits some of the locations I really want to see. But, I have on occasion, just sat down on a nearby bench to gaze in wonder at what I am seeing, like the Painted Hills.