John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Oregon

[Tony Willis]

On our previous trips to Washington and Oregon we have been in the west and thought both states were wet and covered in forests. Such ignorance, once the divide of the Cascades is crossed there is a huge upland desert with much of the plant life concentrated on high mountains and deep river valleys.

I have not yet sorted the flower pictures but our trips are not single minded and try to take in other aspects of the natural landscape.

We detoured and took the opportunity to visit the John Day Fossil beds which comprise three units 50 plus miles apart. We could only visit two, Sheep Rock with its visitor centre and Painted Hills which speaks for itself. The third site at Clarno was too far in a day.
The first two pictures are on the approach to Sheep Rock site the rest at Painted Hills

[Martinr]

Cracking stuff Tony, more geology please before you move onto the plants!

[David Nicholson]

Very interesting Tony. I have an interest in old fossils being one myself

[Tony Willis]

David

 I saw a place reserved for you in one of the exhibits!

A few more pictures

[Rodger Whitlock]

I hate doing this, but it needs to be said: you have conflated the Clarno unit with the Sheep Rock unit. They aren't the same thing, though they're both parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Here's a PDF map of the monument and its three units. To quote the website:

The Visitor Center at the Sheep Rock Unit is located on Highway 19 between the towns of Dayville and Kimberly, 2 miles from the junction of Highway 26 and Highway 19. The Painted Hills Unit is located 9 miles northwest of of the town of Mitchell, just off Highway 26. There is no visitor center at this unit. The Clarno Unit is located 20 miles west of the town of Fossil. along Highway 218. There is no visitor center at this unit.

The one time I visited the Clarno unit is one of my more vivid memories. I'd been driving along, seeing no other traffic though the road was smooth and well paved. I parked the car and got out, and was overwhelmed by the silence. There wasn't a single man-made sound: no traffic, no radios, no airplanes, no lawnmowers, no nothing, just silence, silence, silence except for the whisper of the wind and the soft cooing of the rock doves that live in the Clarno pinnacles. In our modern technological society, at least in urbanized areas, real silence like that is a very rare thing.

East of the Cascades is very interesting territory, and visitors to the PacNW would do well to spend some time there. Among the treats, floristic and otherwise, are

• along Washington state highway 821 between Ellensburg and Yakima. Good formations of columnar basalt you can get up close and personal with.
• , where groweth Lewisia tweedyi. Do not attempt this unless you have a four-wheel drive vehicle: the roads are very rough.
• , one of the most eccentric museums in the world, featuring native Indian artifacts (e.g. baskets and peace pipes), chess sets, Russian icons, and artifacts associated with Queen Marie of Romania, one of history's great nutcases
• , nestled in a deep gorge of the Deschutes River, but otherwise of no particular significance
• , not even a hamlet, and close by the infamous settlement of the Rajneeshees. It's on the way from US highway 97 to the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds.
• , south of Bend, Oregon, a smallish cinder cone you can drive to the top of.

Undoubtedly, Oregonians and Washingtonians can add many other worthwhile sights to this list.

[ranunculus]

Undoubtedly, Oregonians and Washingtonians can add many other worthwhile sights to this list.

... And we sincerely hope that they do, Roger.

Wonderful topic, Tony ... we are enjoying your super images here in the sunny Dolomites.

[Ragged Robin]

Fantastic photographs of such a beautiful coloured and eroded landscape, Tony, plants are secondary it seems!

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the character of this area and some fossils?

[Tony Willis]

Roger you are quite correct and I have amended my post,thank you. Your gentle comment was as nothing compared to those of Mrs. W. who is of course perfect,when I mentioned my mistake.

We only got to see the fossils in the visitor centre at Sheep Rock and I understand the only visible ones in the ground are at the site we could not visit due to distance.

Hope you are enjoying the Dolomites Cliff.

[David Nicholson]

.......Your gentle comment was as nothing compared to those of Mrs. W. who is of course perfect,when I mentioned my mistake..........

They are all the same Tony as I expect you well know

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Great stuff Tony !!! 
Gorgeous region - hope you'll show lots more !!! 

[TheOnionMan]

Fantastic scenery Tony, the memories come flooding back seeing these.  When I lived in the Seattle Washington area, I made a number of trips down to the John Day area of Northern Oregon (5-6 hour drive each way!), looking for Allium robinsonii, the type locale at the confluence of the John Day River into the mighty Columbia River.  Didn't find the Allium down there, although saw lots of other interesting plants.  The Allium species is considered extirpated from Oregon, but it is still found in Washington along low "benches" along the Columbia River, the benches being flat sandy areas not far above the high water mark.  I will post a couple scans of the plants I found to the Allium 2010 thread soon.

Just wanted to point out a fun feature of using Google, one can click on Maps, turn on the terrain, then see 3D topography, really gives a sense of the canyons and mountainous terrain.  The first screen capture shows the confluence of the John Day River with the Columbia River, the Columbia River Gorge walls over 2000' tall at this locale (on the Washington side of the river).  The second photo show the squiggly meandering path of the John Day River canyon, taking about 180 miles or so before it actually reaches the town of John Day... there is very little in terms of human habitation for large distances in this arid area.

If you really want to play, download the free Google Earth plugin, then you can look at an area and swivel around in any direction and altitude.  Sample image shown... imagine the black areas are actually blue water.  Looking forward to more pictures Tony!  By the way, how hot was it when you were there?

[Tony Willis]

Mark it was in the 90's except for a couple of hotter days until we got back to Seattle which was about 60f.

No more pictures from that area.