John Day Fossil Beds - August 17th

 We visited the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  There are 3 sections to the Monument that encompass over 100 miles.  We went to the Sheep Rock Unit.  

At the visitor center they had either fossils or replicas of fossils found in this area from up to 44 million years ago.  We watched the film which discussed how the layers were formed from volcanic explosions covering the area, then things growing and living, then another volcano blast, new growth and on and on.  I found it kind of mind boggling how they could decide how long ago it was from and what type of animal it was.  

We then went to the Cant Ranch.  The owner was the first to find fossils in the area and he was also a geology professor, along with being a sheep farmer.  This is their car after years of neglect lol.

We did a short hike to view the river and Sheep Rock

Sheep rock is the big rock on top

the river had a nice winding to it.

We then walked the Island in Time Trail.  They had a couple of fossil replicas along the trail.  The most interesting thing about the hike was the change in the landscape.  It went from rolling hills to eroded rocks that you could see the layers and these layers are where they find the fossils.  One of the signs said that the Rangers do not dig for the fossils, they wait for them to expose themselves through erosion.  The end of the trail you felt like you were in another time. 

On the left you can see the rolling hill I mean and then the right is where the fossils are.  The rolling will eventually look like the right.

Here is the layers on both sides of a “grassy” area that didn’t erode.

We then went back to camp, as it was 100 degrees when we walked the trail and we were ready to cool off.  The temperature where we were camping was only 85.  Relaxed and prepped for tomorrow’s travel day.

Til next time…