The reality of the regular fossil dig daily routine settled in last Wednesday. To the usual long days of field time from 8:30 a.m., when we gather by the vehicles, to our return sometime around 5:00, we add cleaning ourselves and our fossils, prepping and eating dinner, and meeting with guides for help with fossil identification. Depending on the day, that full schedule can wrap up about 10:00 or later. Wednesday night was just too late for me to begin writing at 11:00 p.m. Since I promised myself I would keep my journal as a "blog" this year, I am dependent on reliable internet service. I must admit it has not worked out as I had hoped. Thursday and Friday nights the internet was not working in the house. So between major fatigue and spotty online access, the blog has really suffered.
So here I am on my 27th wedding anniversary, sitting in the lobby of the motel, typing my entry which will be a summary of the first week. My apologies right up front for the lack of detail in some aspects of each day. Though I finally wrote long hand notes on Friday night, there were some specifics I just could not recall. I hope to fill in critical highlights as they bubble up into my consciousness.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
This day found us on the same ranch as Tuesday. We received general overview of the potential sites in the valleys before us and off we went. We were warned that the walk down the hill in the morning means we are walking uphill at the end of the session. We were instructed to keep in radio contact and discuss what are thoughts were regarding lunch and afternoon options. Rob headed off to look for the section of Triceratops brow horn that he thought is still in the ground near the section he has already removed. The rest of us set off down the hill and scattered into the different washes looking for fossils.
By 12:00 the valley group had found nothing and decided to return to the vehicles for lunch and then relocate for the afternoon. Our young companion, Gina had napped in one of the vehicles and since Rob was driving to the fish site in the afternoon, she opted to spend the afternoon at the motel. The rest of us, the small party of 5 plus Ryan our guide drove to a new location.
Ryan knew of two or more microsites so we decided to try our luck at those. Ryan is tall with very long legs so he reached the site about 50 yards ahead of me. When I saw his two arms raised triumphantly I knew he had scored. I am not referring to a touchdown, though I can understand the confusion. He had once again found a fabulous fossil (I think it was a claw)! This is one of those fuzzy details which I will correct when, and if, I remember. I looked around the rather steep butte ledge just to the left of Ryan's prize, and found turtle shell. Eegads. At this time I think I have enough turtle shell to reassemble a decent size turtle!
I was bent over the surface trying to dislodge a small fragment and suddenly Ryan came huffing around the corner. He said a big bobcat had just run past me not 10 feet away! So not only did I miss the fabulous fossil find, I missed the bob cat encounter. Just so engrossed in my own little world that wild animals don't catch my attention.
Ryan then went around to the back side of this formation, and there lying under a small plant branch was a perfect Nanotyrannosaurus tooth. Another lucky day for Ryan. At this point I suggested that he just point out the sites for us and sit back and relax while we do the "work". He had "limited out" as they say in the hunting and fishing world. At least that was my opinion.
Mitch and Mike each found nice fossils at this location, (one beautiful toe bone), which prompted some to return to this site later in the afternoon.
We walked on down the valley, being the same valley that the bobcat ran into, to look for another microsite. Ryan walked on farther to check on a site he had on his GPS. He let us know by radio that we had been at noted site on a previous day so we continued to look for another one without the assistance of advanced technology. We used our feet and our eyes.
Ryan reached the site first to no surprise. He was pretty good about letting other have first peek and I was able to find some tiny fossils: Gar scales, fish verts, Triceratops shed tooth, and a ray tooth. Once again the dream fossil eluded me. After a brief return to the before mentioned site, the group walked slowly back to the vehicles checking out likely spots for fossils. My attention was diverted by something moving in the grass- a snake. It was about 12" long and very thin and elegant. Mike came over to see it and identified it as a Racer. That was a nice encounter with nature.
After dinner I finally spent some time cleaning fossils in a bucket with water and a tooth brush. That was the end of another sunny day in Hell Creek.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Day Four of Fossil Dig
We drove onto the same ranch as previous days but into a new area. Ryan was our guide for the day since Rob was excavating the squamosal he had located the day before. This is the large shield that is behind the head of the Triceratops. Mike and Mitch volunteered to assist the process. Large pick axes were involved. More details later. The rest of the party, Ryan, Alex, Laurel and myself headed off to a new microsite and other areas with potential for larger fossils.
The first microsite was a bust. That's technical jargon for no fossils. Laurel and I headed for the next hill, Alex disappeared somewhere, and Ryan set out for places unknown. We are a very independent group. I worked my way to the top of this mound and found some sort of crystals. Though they are very sparkly in the field, when I have taken them home in previous years, their shimmer is quite dulled. I let them lie. Since that was the highlight I began to work my way down the hill in a kind of circular path, hoping to find a spill of fossils or a unique treasure.
Near the base I found a large deposit of turtle: surprise, surprise. After my initial disappointment, I began to get closer to the surface and found micro fossils: Gar scales and fish verts aplenty. I called Laurel over and she decided she would collect turtle shell for a project back home. Soon she was collecting the scales as well and other fossils as they appeared to her.
I actually had pretty good luck at this site. I found a tiny therapod tail vertebra (almost 1" long), Ray teeth, and a very beautiful toe bone of a therapod. That fossil was such a surprise since it was lying between my feet as I was crouched down gazing at the patch of soil I had looked at before. I must have missed it earlier because I was focusing on fossils whose color was a contrast to the soil, and this toe bone was exactly the same color as the soil. Camoflage in action. Does make you wonder how much you really do miss as you are hunting for fossils.
I found a very nice Crocodile tooth and a beautiful Bow fin fish tooth, a Gar fish vertebra and a Triceratops tooth. I was happy with the morning's offerings. Laurel had a good time and Ryan had found a big bone somewhere nearby. We tracked down Alex who had not found much and the three of us decided to find Ryan.
He was nearby, but he was perched on a pretty steep face of a plateau. Alex (one day shy of 15) helped us with our back packs so we could gingerly ease ourselves down the side of this formation. Of course our cameras were out and we snapped away taking photos of Ryan's beautiful rib. To be more accurate: one complete rib and two partial ribs; with hope of more bones to be revealed another day. We were, and still are, very excited for Ryan. The quality of the bone is excellent and it is an extraordinary find.
Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we dispersed to look for our own extraordinary finds. I went to the right and within about 15 minutes heard Laurel give out a cheer. I walked back to find Alex on top of a narrow outcropping about the same height as Ryan's ribs and about 75' from his hillside. Apparently Laurel had spotted something up there and asked Alex to climb up to check it out. Alex is the mountain goat of the group. He called down to her that yes it's bone! Hence the cheer. I climbed up, camera in hand and took photos.
The fossil is a very worn, but amazingly beautiful, in an abstract art sculpture sort of way, head of a femur or tibia of a hadrosaur. It is the perfect specimen for Laurel: unique and bold and elegant: very much like her. I was, and remain, thrilled for her. She deserves it.
I slowly descended and headed over to an interesting place to the right of her outcropping. I climbed up and over a low formation and began to look at the wall to my left. My eye was caught by a shape I have seen before (my first year) a vertebra with process. It was about the size of a peach. I took out my Swiss Army knife and carefully released it from the matrix. It is not in great shape, but it is 65 million years old, and I found it all by myself.
I wrapped it in foil and placed it in a resealable bag. I continued to look on that wall and very quickly noticed a surface that was different than the surrounding area. The shape was sort of round. I thought I saw bone and held my breath. I reached into my pack for a larger knife and just as I was beginning to work the knife into the sandstone like soil, my eye was caught by a tooth sitting right next to the fossil in question. Wow! That's kind of fun. I picked up the tooth which is from a Triceratops or perhaps a Leptoceratops, and placed it in a small container. I then returned to the other bone in the wall. By now Laurel joined me to watch the action (yet another sports analogy), which is so not accurate. This work, done properly, can take hours, as in Ryan's rib situation, or a few minutes, as in my fossil. I eased it out of the matrix and recognized it as another vertebra. I did not recognize the animal, but was told later that it is a sacral vert from a hadrosaur (plant eater), maybe Triceratops (remember the tooth).
I was excited to find three fossils in such quick succession. The quality of the verts is poor and the larger one (grapefruit size) began to crumble as I cleaned it. I need to stabilize it with a permeating super glue called Paleo Bond. I hope to finish cleaning it this week and get the glue into it so it will be OK to ship home.
With all the excitement of the morning and early afternoon, it was time to find some shade, eat lunch and drink lots of water. The day really heated up into the 90's and we were all feeling every degree. The rest of the afternoon was pretty lazy for the ladies. We worked at trying to be cool. Alex climbed up and over everything in sight, and Ryan worked on those ribs. We left that area late afternoon and drove back to the motel.
After dinner, Laurel and I went to Ryan and Rob's room to view the days treasures. Ryan had all the ribs on display and Rob had his squamosal jacketed in plaster and foil. Those guys were really happy. Rob had swung the large pick axe for hours to get at the fossil. He is an artist and very meticulous about fossil stabilizing in the field. That piece looked perfect. Congratulations to them both.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Fossil Dig Day 5
The plan for the day involved returning to the site to finish stabilizing Laurel's fossil and wrapping it in foil. Michael and Adam (father, son) were invited to dig at Ryan's site, and I chose to photograph Ryan working on Laurel's fossil. The remainder of the collectors would work a large microsite for the morning and then drive to the fish site in the afternoon. Since Laurel was returning to LA on Sunday, we knew our afternoon would be spent finding boxes in town and pack and ship her fossil home. The fish will have to wait for next week.
The morning proceeded well enough. Laurel's fossil was glued in situ (technical jargon) and wrapped in lots of foil. Ryan was kind enough to carry it to the vehicle. After that, Laurel and I headed off in the opposite direction from where the others were searching, to look on another microsite. Wrong way to go as it turned out. Our choice was tricky to get to and the surface was very unstable once we got there, so the looking involved too much slipping and sliding for my taste. Fairly early, I found a bone in the ground and began to uncover it. It was extremely brittle and because I didn't have any bonding glue, the thing would crumble as I tried to extract it. What a frustration. I wrapped the decent pieces, and placed the smaller ones in foil and place everything in one bag to deal with when I get home. A few of the pieces will glue together easily and the crumbly bits will probably find their way to the garden as mulch. So wish I had that glue in the field.
After that exercise, I carefully worked my way around this very high formation and tried to find the famous microsite. I did find some turtle (bet you could have guessed that by now), Gar scales, a fish vert that is the size of the head of a pin, (no kidding) and a nice Crocodile tooth. But hey, where's that T. rex tooth I keep visualizing. As the predicted thunderstorm began to gather, we worked our way back to the vehicles.
We certainly made the wrong choice in microsites. The other collectors, each and everyone, found amazing fossils: mammal jaw (finder cannot keep because it is too rare) which will go to a museum, Nano tyrannosaurus tooth, structure that supported the head of Triceratops (can't recall the very long name), therapod toe bone, dromeosaur tooth, and more. We were on the wrong side of the street so to say. Michael and Adam returned from Ryan's rib site with three (3) vertebrae from the same animal. One of the dorsal verts is perfect and includes the long process that arcs off the back of the vert. It is fabulous! As always I am thrilled for my fellow hunters. But I must be truthful and say that I am a bit envious. At least I have next week.
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