Spring Break Part 1: John Day Fossil Beds

We headed out for the John Day Fossil Beds, a place in Eastern Oregon where the volcanic action of the past buried plants and animals from 18-35 million years ago when Eastern Oregon was a subtropical ecosystem.  We camped outside the town of John Day.  On our morning walk, we found something I have never seen outside in nature...Owl Pellets.  We must have found the roosting tree of a fairly large owl as there were about 20 pellets strewn about under the tree.  Both Wren and I were immediately interested in finding out what was in the pellets. 

Here Wren is showing me one of the rodent skulls he found.

This is the place we found all the pellets.  We were both so psyched.

 Next we headed for the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center where we investigated the geology and fossils of the area. 

The Painted Hills are part of the cool geology of Eastern Oregon and are something not to be missed just because they are off the beaten path.  Wow they were beautiful.

Additionally, the Blue Basin is a great little hike where an amazing layer of turquoise blue rock is exposed to the surface leaving a surreal feeling as you walk past.

Next we headed to the town of Fossil where behind Walker High School, you can just go dig fossils right out of the ground.  Open to the public.  Donations accepted.  So up we went with our digging kits in hand to split open rocks and find treasures.  What a fun day!