Mind-Blowing Kaleidoscope of Colors at Painted Hills of Oregon

The Painted Hills are nature’s eye candy in a kaleidoscope of colors and one of the three units that make up the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, situated in Wheeler County, Oregon. The Painted Hills is so called for the intriguing layers and banded striations that happen on its hills corresponding to numerous geological eras, designed when the area was an ancient river flood-plain. The remarkable colors appear nearly peculiar and hand-painted. The exclusive colors that line the clay rich hills and mounds were shaped more than thirty five million years ago by volcanic ash layers deposited by ancient eruptions when the area was a river plain. 

With the passage of time, the layers of ash containing diverse minerals compacted and solidified into the several bands of colors seen today. The black soil is lignite that was vegetative matter that grew along the floodplain. The grey coloring is mudstone, siltstone, and shale and red and orange hues are from laterite soil that shaped by floodplain deposits when the area was warm and humid. Furthermore, the colors shift and change throughout the day and through seasons and diverse weather due to the variable angles of the sun. The finest time to visit the hills is after a rainstorm when every color is intensified. Colors range from burnt red, amber, orange, yellow, and gold, with streaks of black and grey. Between April and May, rivers of little yellow flowers run down within the cracks of the reddish hills making strong leading lines and colorful contrast. The scene draws hundreds of landscape photographers and artists to the place. Moreover; more busy time of the year is in winter, after a light dusting of snow. 

The stark white of the snow juxtaposed against the colorful striations makes for a robust composition. Visitors are invited to come and discover these wonderful Eastern Oregon landscapes of mountains, grasslands, canyons and ancient rock formations, fossil hunting, Thomas Condon Paleontology Museum or take a scenic boat trip down the John Day River, go cross-country skiing or mushroom hunting in the Ochoco National Forest and Hike on hidden trails into the wilderness to experience the wild beauty of Mother Nature! View the antelopes, deer, coyotes, humming birds and butterflies, and relish the starry skies in the profound silence of the nights. The area of Painted Hills unit is open year-round with easy entree for all people. You can with no trouble pass a day here or come again and again without ever feeling that you’ve seen it all. There are a handful of well-marked trails to guide you through the park, as there are proper maintained picnic areas parking lots and great information signs explaining the numerous geological and natural processes that occurred here through different eras. After a full day of adventures, you will enjoy peaceful sanctuary and the ideal place to spend quality time with yourself or with loved ones.

Shandur Top Chitral Pakistan

Shandur Top (el. 12,200 feet (3,700 m)) located in Chitral Pakistan and is often called the 'Roof of the World'. Shandur top is flat, a plateau and can be reached somewhere in the months of late April and early November. The area is crossed by small streams of waters during summer that looks plentiful. There is polo match festival played on Shandur Top between the home teams of Chitral and guest teams from other regions. Shandur Pass is one of the major mountain passes between Chital and Gilgit-Baltistan. Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament which since 1936 has been held annually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elakala Falls Virginia USA

The lovely Elakala Falls are a series of four waterfalls of Shays Run as it descends into the Blackwater Canyon in West Virginia. They’re within Blackwater Falls State Park and are reasonably popular among photographers, with the ease of access for the first waterfall, and the relatively low traffic of the other waterfalls in the series. The first of the series of waterfalls is 35 feet in height and is very easily accessible from park trails, which is second most popular waterfall in the park. From Elakala trail there is a bridge over the top of the first waterfall offering easy access and views. The remaining three waterfalls of the series are progressively more difficult to access, and have no official marked trails to them. The gorge is nearly 200 feet deep at this section accounting for the difficulty of the descent to the lower waterfalls of the series.

The second waterfall is only 15 feet tall and is the smallest in the series, however remains popular by the well-worn path from the first falls. The third waterfall of the series is the highest at 40 feet tall but it is particularly difficult to reach. It has a path worn to it but is very steep and rocky terrain. Traveling beyond the second waterfall should be considered for experienced hikers only due to the danger of descending the canyon without trails. The fourth and final waterfall of the series is considered quite dangerous to access, with no trails, and should not be attempted by inexperienced hikers. 

This attractive waterfall is accessed by a short trail starting out from the park’s main lodge.  The falls are less than a quarter mile down the trail.   The trail truly doesn’t give you a good look at the waterfall, so take the time to follow the unofficial foot path down the ravine to the base of the falls.  Elakala is loveliest in times of heavy water flow.  The water stream leaving the base of the falls takes a lovely swirling path across the moss-greened rocks.  But make sure don’t miss climbing a little farther down the ravine to view a couple other pretty waterfalls on Shays Run.  The stream actually cascades all the way down to the bottom of the Blackwater Canyon, but it’s not actually safe to go much beyond the second or third cascade.  In winter the Elakala falls completely frozen over, and the sound of the water running under the ice was magical.

The name of the waterfalls comes from a Native American legend, although numerous meaningfully different versions exist. According to some sources it involves a princess which name was Elakala who threw herself over the edge of the first waterfall when her lover despised her. But another source said the legend involves a Massawomee warrior named Elakala who was shy-girl and fell to his death from the falls while being chased by two women of his tribe. Alike legends exist for numerous waterfalls in the eastern United States, and there is of course no way to confirm these stories.