Road Trip to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Clarno Unit

The rising sun found us enroute to the Painted Hills of Oregon, but first we stopped in at the Clarno Unit.  Both are parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  (We never did get to the third part, the Sheep Rock Unit, which has a paleontology center with exhibits.)

I thought the scenery of this part of Oregon was quite beautiful.  Once we left U.S. Hwy. 97 near Antelope, Oregon, we were on a curving, relatively deserted road, dipping up and down the hills.  As the daylight brightened, we could see long vistas — rounded hills dappled with green trees in the foreground backed by more dry hills as far as the eye could see.

We arrived at Clarno around 6 o’clock in the morning.  Needless to say, we had the only car in the parking area.  I was expecting to see fossils, but except for one specimen, they were not singled out by signs nor on display, so I just enjoyed the landscape.  I walked the very short Arch Trail up to the foot of the palisades cliff formation.  At the end I saw some fossilized logs and a high circular arch in the stone.

Palisades cliff formation

View from the Arch Trail. You can see our car in the parking area.

View from the Arch Trail, Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Another view

Fossilized logs

Delicate arch at the end of the short trail

The sole fossil in evidence on the Trail of Fossils, Clarno Unit

We saw more fossils later in the day along the Leaf Hill Trail in the Painted Hills.  We saw a hill where thousands of fossils have been excavated.  These few were  on display there:

The park literature said, “Within the hills and valleys of Eastern Oregon is one of the richest fossil beds on Earth, an ancient record spanning most of the Age of Mammals. . . . remarkable is the great number and variety of fossils.”  I will take the park’s word for it.

Later we drove through the town of Fossil and stopped for coffee.  It’s a very small town, but it does have a retirement center — good to know we fossils have a place to live out our old age!

 

 

 

 

Hiking in France 2: Andy Goldsworthy Sentinels

Andy Goldsworthy sentinel near Authon

Andy Goldsworthy built three sentinels in this part of France, and we hiked to two of them — the Authon sentinel on Day 2 and the sentinel in the valley of Bes on Day 4.  All are accessible by road, but Jean-Pierre felt that hiking to them would give us a better feel for the land elements that inspired Goldsworthy.  The sentinels stand like guardians in the landscape.  Although there is no mortar in the stacked stones, they are solidly built — sturdy and steadfast.

Day 2 was perhaps the most challenging day of hiking for me.  We were on the trail from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Jean-Pierre had to make last-minute changes to our planned itinerary.  We were to have sheltered for the night in one of the Refuges d’Art (huts that housed a Goldsworthy sculpture), but the mountain road was too muddy, and it was impossible to get a vehicle up there with our heavy bags and camping supplies.  The adapted itinerary kept us hiking, sometimes off trail, and through more difficult terrain, for a longer-than-normal day.  At times I felt like a mountain goat!  My worst moment was slipping on a rock and stepping one foot into slimy, smelly swamp sludge.  There was also a scary traverse across scree, short, but Jean-Pierre escorted us safely across one by one.  I had a terrific workout, and the reward for the day’s efforts was seeing the first of Andy Goldsworthy’s sentinels.

Terrain Day 2

The Vancon Valley

I found this shell fossil in a rock along the trail. This part of France has many fossil sites.

Cherry blossoms near our lunchtime picnic spot

Guide, Jean-Pierre

First glimpse of the sentinel near Authon

This sentinel is situated in an open space at a curve in the road.

The shape of the sentinel mimics a distant mountain peak.

That’s me with the sentinel!

Sunset at the sentinel

On Day 4, after another day of hiking, we saw a second Goldsworthy sentinel in the valley of Bes.  This one was situated in a natural alcove in the looming rock.  It felt like a tiny beacon in a dominating landscape, and yet it felt protected, sheltered and cocooned.

First glimpse of the second sentinel

The valley of Bes

Goldsworthy’s sentinel, valley of Bes

Again, the top of the sentinel echoed the shape of a distant peak.