Red earth broke away from itself in chunks, and Kaleo tossed it into his bag. Most likely by the time he got home it would be dust. Easier to work with that way, but it was Messy.
It would be worth the trek, even so. The red clay of the Bayan Plateau created a brilliant pigment that blended well with almost any other pigment he could throw at it, and didn't fade within the decade.
It wasn't even particularly hard to find, if you knew...