Monthly Archives: July 2024

236-John Day Fossil Beds

John Day Fossil Beds

While staying in the John Day area of eastern Oregon we visited the fossil beds that made this region unique. The fossils are from a time range of 55 to 5 million years ago! This means there are no dinosaurs – these are the ages of early mammals and plants.

The area where fossils have been found is huge, thousands of acres of land. The portion contained in the “John Day Fossil Beds National Park” contains three units along with the visitor center. The rest is private land and state parks.

The units are not right next to each other, there is a distance between them so we planned to do each section separately. Unfortunately we were here in late July and the whole area was suffering from dozens of fires! The worst of it was the smoke! The day we visited the visitor center it was so smoky we could not see the nearby hilltops and the air quality was bad. So, we stayed at the visitor center and didn’t do any of the hikes in the nearby Sheep Rock unit.

The Thomas Condon Paleontology and Visitor Center told the story of this area, including eras of wetlands and swamps interspersed with drier times of forests. And interspersing them all were times of volcanic eruptions of both lava and ash flows. Fossils include nuts and seeds, insects, small and large mammals as well as plants and leaves from each time.

Mammals include small animals similar to beavers with horns protruding from their lower jaw, and large mammals similar to rhinos, mammoths and horses.

There were fossilized bones as well as tree and nut fossils in the visitor center. Because it’s all behind glass pictures didn’t come out very well.

We monitored the air quality and smoke closely for the next few days. We noticed that each day started out fairly clear but as the day went on the smoke and air quality worsened. The Clarno and Painted Hills units, which were both over an hour west of where we were staying, had pretty good air quality predicted for a few days so we got up real early and headed out, planning to visit at least the Clarno unit before lunchtime.

We took a couple of short hikes in the Clarno area and there were no other visitors so Chloe was able to run around during the hikes (dog were allowed but were supposed to be on leash). One hike went to where there were great views of some rock formations where erosion made the various layers very visible. Another hike went around some of the rocks that had fallen from the rock formations and where several leaf and branch fossils were visible. The pics we took include several showing sycamore leaf and branch fossils. Very interesting!

Because the air quality was still very good we headed to the Painted Hills area the same day. The sloping hillsides with distinct colored layers were very interesting. We took one short hike around a hillside where several fossils had been found, but the hill was surrounded by a fence to dissuade people from collecting their own fossils so we couldn’t see any.

The rest of our visit to the John Day area was spent sitting inside the rig using the A/C when needed to stay out of the poor air quality. I’ve included a picture showing the various fires that surrounded us – we were staying at the blue dot.

Here are pics we took:

235-Redmond area

Smith Rock Formation

When we stayed in the Redmond area we visited a unique rock formation area called Smith Rock. It’s an area along the Crooked River gorge where there are some sheer cliffs that are very popular with rock climbers. We walked a short way to a viewpoint, but due to the steepness of the trail down to the river and up the other side we didn’t hike down into the canyon.

We got pictures of a couple of groups of rock climbers heading toward the cliffs for the day, and also some hikers across the river who were hiking on a trail. The picture of the hikers shows the how immense the cliffs are with an insert showing where the hikers are at.

235-Redmond area

Three Sisters Mountain area

While staying in the Redmond area we took a day to drive past the Three Sisters mountains, Mt Washington and Mt Jefferson and through the Belknap Lava Flow area.

It’s a beautiful area but was ravaged by a huge wildfire in 2021. Some of our pictures show the devastation of the area that burned.

The lava flow was HUGE and I was surprised by it. There were a couple of places to stop and view the lava flows and in several areas the lava flow was cut away to make the road.

One viewing area was a short hike up a hill to an ‘observatory’ which was really a rock house with windows pointing at the various mountains and then you could climb to the top and see an unobstructed view all around. The observatory was built in the 30s and there is a compass that shows where each of the mountains area that can be seen from the roof.


Here are some pics:

All
234-Ainsworth area, OR

Mt Hood and Timberline Lodge

While staying at the Ainsworth State Park along the Columbia River Gorge we drove about 70 miles to the south side of Mt Hood where the Timberline Lodge is located. This is famous because the movie “The Shining” was filmed here even though in the movie it was supposed to be in Colorado.

The mountain is very pointed! The east side was blown out during an eruption in 1866. There have been at least 3 major eruptions of this volcano in the last 5,000 years and it’s current considered dormant. There are several glaciers on the mountain, the one right next to the Timberline Lodge allows skiers and snowboarders even in July!

Here are some pictures:

234-Ainsworth area, OR

Drive thru Columbia River Gorge and Cascade Locks

While staying in Ainsworth we drove along the north side of the Columbia River Gorge along WA14. It’s a beautiful area but much of it is not right along the river and very forested so we didn’t get pictures. But there was one area along a steep cliff with an overlook of the river and we got a couple of pictures.

Then we drove across the Bridge of the Gods near the Cascade Locks. The locks are needed because there were rapids so a dam was built and the locks allow boats and barges to continue along the river. While we were there no boats were using the locks so no good pics darn it! But we got pictures of the dam, the locks and the visitor center. An interesting part of the visitor center was the “basement level” where there was an underwater viewing area. And, there are salmon steps so the salmon can get upstream and downstream past the dam.

Here are some pics:

234-Ainsworth area, OR

The waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge

While staying in northern Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge we visited several waterfalls that were within just a few miles of the Ainsworth State Park RV Park where we were staying. All the waterfalls are along the Historic Columbia River Hwy 30 which made it real convenient.


The first we visited was Multnomah Falls. It’s by far the most famous and most visited. We had to purchase a “timed entry pass” beforehand (by a few days but only $2) just to be able to park in the parking lot to visit the falls. But it was worth it! It’s really beautiful, with an easy access viewing platform just a few steps from the road and hiking trails partway up to a bridge and then a rougher hiking trail up to the top. Well, we didn’t do any of the hikes because my hip and Jeff’s knee have been bothering us. But just to see it from the bottom viewing platform was great!

Our next stop was to the Vista House at Crown Point. It’s at the western edge of where the waterfalls are and the highest point. The Vista House was built in the 1920s as a rest area for visitors travelling along the historic highway.

Next was the Latourelle Falls. It’s a straight shot from the top to the bottom! Again, it was very convenient from the road and an easy walk to the viewing platform.

Then we stopped at Wahkeena Falls. It’s also a straight shot top to bottom, with easy parking and short walk to viewing platform.

Then we drove past the Multnomah Falls that we had visited earlier in the day. The road was very congested and there was a crossing guard stopping the cars every few minutes so hordes of people could get from the parking lot to the viewing area. It made me glad that we had visited this waterfall earlier in the day. There’s also a historic lodge right at the base of Multnomah Falls.

Our last stop of the day was the Horsetail Falls. This waterfall was different in that it wasn’t a straight shot but instead made several little falls over rocks as it travelled from the top to the bottom. Due to the trees it was hard to get any shots that showed the whole fall. The pool at the bottom was larger than the others and shallower and there were families and little kids playing in the pool. As it was a hot day by this time I’m sure they appreciated the time in the water and shade.

Then it was less than a couple of miles back home!

Here are pictures:

233-Sauvie Island, OR

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

While staying near Portland we drove down to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. It was very interesting to see so many airplanes from different eras all in one very large room. When we first walked in and paid admission a docent met us and I asked where was the Spruce Goose? He laughed and pointed up! The plan is SO HUGE that it looked like a wall behind some other displays and was so tall that most of the fuselage and both wings were way above our heads. I had to laugh too!

Of particular interest was a full scale model of Leonardo da Vinci’s “wings” build from his specs. I would not want to have tried flying with that contraption strapped onto my back!


There was a separate building for helicopters and the space museum. They had a replica of Sputnik 1 which was just a round ball with long antennas sticking out! Also, they had a couple of huge missiles and the lander from Apollo 11.

It was a 90 minute drive there from where we were staying (and 90 minutes back!) but it was worth it!

Here are some pics: