PAINTED HILLS - 8/25/18

Oregon never ceases to amaze me with the diversity of its beauty. I remember seeing pictures of China’s painted mountains in Zhangye Danxia National Geologic Park, but I was astonished when I discovered there was a similar place only four hours away. 

The Painted Hills of Oregon are more subtle in color than the ones in China, but I think the subdued palette was still mesmerizing in its own right. Seeing the golden and iron colored layers with specks of black is like peering into a looking glass that transports you back in time - truly incredible. In springtime, there are small sunflowers that bloom in the fields nearby and each season supposedly creates a new experience as the hues of the rock change depending on the moisture in the air.

The famous boardwalk there is often used for senior portraits, Instagram shoots, and tourist photo ops, but early in the morning, we were the only ones there. Originally, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, the photos of the cracked red clay looked to me like a sea of rust colored Cocoa Puffs. So, I was expecting to see small round rocks, like the ones I use in soil for some of my tropical plants needing good drainage (leca). But alas, I was mistaken. What everyone remarks of when visiting this boardwalk is how extraterrestrial, how martian it all looks.

We woke in the wee hours of the morning to catch sunrise here and turned this into a multi-site trip, visiting Smith Rock right after on the way back. Here are some photos of our morning at Painted Hills.

Photo by Jason

Not Cocoa Puffs

Photo by Jason

I have no idea how to be normal in a photo