Psychodelic Canyon
Here's another from yesterdays visit to the Paint Mines, in Calhan Colorado. Awesome place! I really had no idea there was anything like this in Colorado.
The paint mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected By American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the many different layers of clay. When the outcrops erode, a hard capstone allows columns of clay to be preserved beneath them, creating fantastic spires called hoodoos. Selenite (gypsum) contibutes to the color, and white quartzitic crystals dazzle the eye. (this last paragraph was stolen from my friend Robin's photo description... Who in turn stole his description from the park brochure)
Psychodelic Canyon
Here's another from yesterdays visit to the Paint Mines, in Calhan Colorado. Awesome place! I really had no idea there was anything like this in Colorado.
The paint mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected By American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the many different layers of clay. When the outcrops erode, a hard capstone allows columns of clay to be preserved beneath them, creating fantastic spires called hoodoos. Selenite (gypsum) contibutes to the color, and white quartzitic crystals dazzle the eye. (this last paragraph was stolen from my friend Robin's photo description... Who in turn stole his description from the park brochure)