June 18, 2016 (Part 1)

We left Bend after breakfast and drove to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. It was raining and a little foggy, so we opted to skip the Painted Hills Unit because we thought the color would not show up well.  As we drove to the next unit, we passed the Crook County Courthouse.

We drove through an old town named Mitchell. Many of the buildings looked like they had been there from the beginnings of the town in the late 1800s.

We drove to the Sheep Rock Unit. 

Columnar Basalt.

The rock cools from the top down, causing it to crack in columns.

Went into the Thomas Condron Paleontology Visitors' Center, watched the film and went through the museum and displays.

Fossilized Maple leaf and seeds.

James and Elizabeth Cant, Scottish immigrants, bought this land in the early 1900s and operated this ranch, raising cattle and sheep, until The National Park Service purchased it in the 1970s. The ranch house was built in 1917.

John hiked up Blue Basin trail in the rain.

This is the end of Part 1. The internet is so slow tonight it is taking forever to upload the photos. Tomorrow it will be Masheur National Wildlife Refuge from today and whatever we discover on our way.