“Thirty years I've been coming here and I've never seen anyone on the pastels”, complained an ornery gent as we returned to the parking lot with the light almost gone. His claim was rather surprising given the multitude of well work tracks heading into the pastel colored rocks from the Artists Palette parking lot. You have to get out and walk if you really want to see them at their best. And for photographers with digital cameras the potential of the rocks really comes out in the post-sunset twilight. The colors themselves are oxides of various minerals exposed by water erosion of the valley walls.