This image was taken on a hiking trip in February of 2010, in the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I had just gotten a new camera so on my way back from Central Oregon I stopped to hike some of the trails and take some pictures. It was a nice and clear sunny day, and not too cold - perfect for hiking that area. I took this at the first parking area and trail.

The gray layers are mudstone, siltstone, and shale formed from sediments deposited on an ancient river floodplain. The black layers are manganese nodules or manganese stains. The red layers are ancient soil profiles (laterites) that formed on floodplain deposits. Surface weathering relatively quickly breaks down these rocks into a clay-rich surface coating that easily erodes during summer flashfloods and/or winter storms.

Canon EOS 7D, Canon 17-40mm F/4L.

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