Painted Hills - History of transformation from flooded area to desert

Yes, you read it right - Transformation from flooded area to desert! After having dinner at iHop on the night of Christmas, we came back to Quality Inn hotel in Bend city where we were staying overnight. Room was good enough for a sound and relax sleep in order to overcome tiredness of the day and be ready for the next day trip to one of the National Monuments of John Day Fossil Beds.  After having our complimentary breakfast and loading our map in mobile and GPS, we were all ready to start our journey to Painted Hills – The Desert of Minerals.  We were delayed a bit as we spent some time in taking pictures just outside the hotel. The view was quite impressive due to cold weather and snow covered mountains in surrounding areas. After loading our luggage, we started towards our destination, approximately 82 miles.

Oregon is one of the best states to have a road trip because of its geographical diversity. Throughout the way, we got an amazing view of mountains – snow covered though green. In the middle of that breathtaking beauty, I realized how splendid the combination of White and Green color looked with blue sky. We couldn’t stop ourselves from taking hundreds of pictures to capture natural beauty of Oregon – US highway 26. Our first stop for this day was at Bandit Spring Trail. Even though we couldn’t go on Trail because of snow, we got splendid view to capture photos. Two of my friends were from west coast of US and my husband had come from India for vacation trip. This chance to see and play in snow meant a lot. We spent time playing in snow and throwing snow balls on each other and let the child within us come out. Yes, we dare to get out of the warm car and get ourselves cold and wet in snow! It was a bright sunny day which enriched the beauty of the scenery manifold. We were so much possessed with this view, that we couldn’t stop ourselves from admiring the place, road and surrounding beauty.  The more distance that we covered, the more natural attractiveness we got to see. Right after we left from Bandit Spring Trail, we saw another great scene just by the side the road. It was the Hard Rock Mountain. Between the road that we were travelling on and the Mountain, there was this huge valley which was surrounded by beautiful colossal mountains. The mountains were covered with snow but had greenery scattered all over. It was hard to tell, where the mountains ended and sky begun. We spent some time just to enjoy and admire this lovely nature. Beholding this solemn beauty had made us silent and introspective.

On way to Painted Hills

Awesome combination of While Green and Blue

From there we started towards our Main Destination – The Painted Hills. As soon as we were close to that area – just one word came out of mind – “Oh My God”.  Amazing Red, Yellow and Black colored hills, spread out in a wide area.

Photo Edit courtesy - Dhawal Banker

Photo Edit courtesy - Dhawal Banker

“Painted Hills:  Like it says – Painted in the past. These are due to the Climate conditions along with fluctuation that occurred along the way. The change in climate over the millions years are recorded as different color strips on the hills.  It's hard to believe now, but the area once contained a near-tropical forest that received 100 inches of rain a year. Painted Hills are the crown jewels of this region with their spectacular colors and sublime patterns that seem to have been hand-painted by the master stroke of Mother Nature’s brush. These colors are changing with light and season”. 

We had a walk in the carefully made trails to enjoy the beauty and capture the beautiful view in order to imprint it in our memories forever. Each color had its own meaning. The hills looked normal from a good distance. But we learned that from inside it was all hard rock, formed over thousands of years. The local authorities had done a great job of creating and marking Trails to have closest look of these hills without disturbing the hills. The information boards too provided detailed history of this place. 

“Based on water absorbance, the color changes - Red and Yellow becomes more of Orange and Golden with the effect of light”. Along with horizontal strips, we got to see vertical stripes which were made by the rain water. It’s difficult to express and describe this geological wonderland in words. Because of the winter season, this was unusually quiet and secluded with almost no travelers. There was just one man other than us and that got us ample amount of privacy and time to admire this place which made it more striking. Though not satisfied with the time we spent here, we headed to our next destination, Sheep Rock. We spent some time there and while going back to our hotel, Madras city, we couldn’t stop visiting this place again in the evening - verifying the fact that the color changes due to light and season. The color of the Painted Hills which was Red in color looked little darker compared to morning view which was lighter!

Apart from the beauty, I came across a man about whom I would like to say a few words:

Passion - Drives you crazy:

Like I said, apart from our group, there was just one man out there at the Painted Hill. He was just sitting there on a bench along with his auto set high end camera, with a book and required food. He was the perfect example of “Passion – that drives you crazy”. He was sitting there alone since morning to capture the perfect shot for his photography. One should respect his/her passion and must go all ahead to achieve it.

Few photos to give you a glimpse of this place

My visit to this place will never to be forgotten! Worth visiting this place! I wish I get to see this place again in summer!

Courtesy: Dhawal Banker, Rishabh Shukla