Monday, July 5th: John Day Fossil Beds

We finally rolled out from Cottage Grove towards our first destination, the John Day Fossil beds. We left early and reached the painted hills section by 4PM. The scenery was stunning and the sunny weather helped out. We hiked a few, short scenic trails overlooking the fossil beds and then made our way to Shelton Wayside State Park. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a glass of wine!

Tuesday, July 6th: we made our way to another section of the fossil beds - Clarno. We toured around another the very scenic rock formations, looking for the fossilized remains of various wildlife trapped in the sandstone.

We left around 10:30am, headed for Mt. Rainier national park. We traveled along scenic highway 97 and made our way towards Washington, where Mt Rainier awaited. On the way we ate lunch at a picnic area overlooking the Columbia Gorge..Goodbye, Oregon! We made our way to Mt Rainier National Park. The views entering the park were amazing: views of mountains, forest and alpine lakes. We took up a campsite at Cougar Rock and planned our excursions in Mt Rainier for the next day!