Today was another hiking day. We went to the Painted Hills unit of John Day National Monument. This has a number of short hiking trails that you’re expected to drive between. We picked three.

The first was Carrol Rim. This out-and back goes up along the ridgeline, with a broad overlook of the rounded hills. The hills are so smooth they look fake, like a low-resolution PS2 game.

Next was Painted Cove. This went around and through a few of the hills. Up close you could see the cracked dry clay texture.

The last trail we went on was Leaf Hill. This went around a hill which had been excavated and bore some 20,000 leaf and plant fossil specimens. Cataloging all that sounds like a job for some poor grad students.

After that we went to find lunch in Mitchell, then found a true Oregon delicacy — self service gas.