Description

A greenish hill made of fossilized volcanic ash perfectly complements the green of the sagebrush desert landscape around it on the Story In Stone Trail at Foree. Early May is an amazing time to visit John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Eastern Oregon, with ideal temperatures and often dramatic skies. Many of the features in the Sheep Rock Unit display badlands-type formations made of this distinctive claystone, turned green by chemical weathering of a mineral called celadonite as water passed through the 33-39 million year old volcanic ash when it was buried deep underground and under immense pressure. The day we visited had incredible clouds creating shifting pockets of light across the landscape. I set up my tripod and waited for a moment of moderately bright shadow to capture this image.

To visit John Day Fossil Beds:

https://denphototravel.com/2024/john-day-fossil-beds-national-monument/