Laurel and I had a very early start yesterday as we met at John Wayne Airport at 6:30am Pacific Daylight time. Our flights to Denver, CO and Rapid City, SD were on time and uneventful. We drove our rental car to the Black Hills Institute in Hill City, where we shopped for fossil preparation supplies, dinosaur books and took a few minutes to see their ever expanding collection of fossils. Laurel was especially interested in the Triceratops fossils now that she has those two amazing leg bones in her collection. We seem to gain an affinity for the animals whose bones and teeth we discover in the field.
We thanked Blanche for her assistance and drove back to the Prairie Berry Winery for dinner and some specialty foods for our stay. We ordered dinner and then took a few minutes for some wine tasting (sipping) of some very unusual varieties: Blue Suede Shoes is a fine example of an original blend of grapes and blueberries; and Phat Hogg a somewhat dry oak aged red wine. The staff at PBW are always cheerful and very helpful. We ate our dinner on their outdoor patio as the clouds that had gathered earlier began to drift away illuminated by the late setting sun. We were tired, but happy and well fed.
Next stop on the travel day agenda was Walmart in Rapid City for most of our food stuffs, ice chest and water. With a long drive ahead of us we made record time in accomplishing our aisles surfing in this megastore. We congratulated ourselves on the 30 minutes flat for conquering this task, loaded the vehicle and began the 2 1/2 hour drive to Buffalo. To say we were tired when we parked in front of our accommodations at 11:30pm is a gross understatement. But we weren't close to those welcoming beds yet. Unpacking the car and stowing all the food etc. in the appropriate places took us two more hours, and at 1:30am we staggered into our rooms.
It is always hard to sleep here even when you are exhausted, because you are so excited. We planned to meet Steve and everyone at 8:00 at the Cafe. Though are intentions were honest, are bodies were slower than we anticipated, and we arrived after most of the students had left to assemble field supplies. We did have time for quick reunion hugs with Steve and Ron, and brief conversations with other prospectors from past seasons. Everyone is happy and eager to get into the field.
We assembled at the Tipperrary Lodge where we saw Ryan, a young guide who has been absent the last three seasons while he finished university. He is a treasure and a fabulous fossil finder, and we are so glad he is with us this season. He rode with us out to the new T. rex site along with another guide William, and we had a great chat. Such a pleasure to be in the company of enthusiastic young men who enjoy fossil hunting and helping others have a great experience.
We got our bearings at the new site, and it quickly became apparent that there were too many workers for the space along the hillside. After reassessing the situation, Steve divided the party into three groups (loosely configured), tasks were assigned and off we went. On this particular ranch the owner created a locally appropriate "out house" for everyone to use: antelope antler door handle, super efficient TP, decorated paper towels and lavender scented hand sanitizer. This was my first stop (I know, too much information), and then Laurel and I (I think she visited this special facility as well) decided to scout around another large mound of formation for any additional spill or signs of bones.
We spent an hour or more looking for fossils, but only came up with some scrap pieces. None of them appear to be connected to the site. In addition to the T. rex bones, the recent rains uncovered a nice hadrosaur limb bone in the middle of the rode the rancher had cut with the dozer. In fact it was broken in two places because of the weight of the equipment. Paleo Bond will take care of those injuries. Ryan and a few students jacketed the bone and carried it up the hill.
We ate lunch under a real canopy erected for that purpose. These dig sites are becoming so up scale. Since the temperature was climbing toward 90 degrees, that little square of shade was very welcome. Swinging picks and shoveling overburden is such hot, demanding labor, it is necessary for everyone's health and safety to have a shady place to rest and drink cold water. Steve's children have been with him this season and what a great experience for them to run around in the great outdoors. They are very engaged with hunting for fossils and exploring the terrain.
After lunch we set off to another site where hadrosaur vertebrae were discovered by the ranch owner. It turns out Laurel and I were with the group last year when we set out to see this site around sunset. Though we expected to be given a digging task assignment, we were thrilled to be told we could go prospecting. We headed for a formation that has yielded great bones in past years and veered to the left. Ryan later told us that the right direction might prove more fruitful. We hope to be allowed a second chance tomorrow.
Laurel headed in two opposite directions, but kept a look out for each other. I found some small scrap pieces, but nothing more. I did find a large turtle shell spill and decided that perhaps this could be another off season puzzle project. I must have collected over 100 pieces of turtle shell of varying sizes: from the "are you nuts?' size (meaning way too small), to a respectable one and a half inches. Laurel arrived too late to talk me out of this crazy decision. She sat calmly in the shade relaxing while I worked.
My pack was now pretty heavy, because I do pick up the scrap pieces mentioned earlier to donate to schools, and I added the large bag of turtle shell. We decided to start the slow walk back to the group via another formation. Eyes cast down (as they often are in this business), I saw the flash of blue and white together peeking out from the sand. I held my breath, bent down and gasped. A tooth! A tooth larger than I have ever found! Laurel saw it too and we were both so excited. I had to sit down and calm myself before I used my Swiss Army knife to carefully scrape away the sandy crust.
At the time I wasn't sure if it was T.rex or Nanotyrannosaur, but it is not round and robust like T. rex (which I should remember), it is flat. It is beautiful. I have not cleaned it properly because as I was removing sand, two tiny pieces broke off the base end. (one more piece broke off when I showed it to Ron and Ryan for ID). We do not have the proper adhesive to repair it, but Ryan agreed to supply the glue and expertise. I told you he is a treasure.The serrations are clear and to the extent I could look at it, I believe it is in perfect condition except for the raggedy base. Don't have a ruler (always forget that), but I guess it is almost two inches long. It is a beauty and I am thrilled to have found it.
We returned to the workers to discover what they had uncovered. Three large hadrosaur vertebra are embedded in very hard matrix. To remove them requires a chisel and hammer and patience, lots of patience. Ryan is in charge of this because he has years of experience. Additional students are working on pieces adjacent to the three verts and collecting spill. The work was completed for the day and we walked back to the vehicles and made the return, semi tense drive back up the exposure. Laurel's a champ driver. I think she should consider those races where the vehicles and drivers are tested in extreme conditions..she's a natural. That ascent conquered, we picked up William at the T. rex site and returned to town, dropped them at the motel and drove home.
After cleaning up ourselves and our packs for tomorrow we made a yummy dinner and relaxed in this cool house. So nice of Gary and Dana to offer it to us. Great to have a fully equipped kitchen with a stove and oven and refrigerator. Hooray!
So this is the first official post of the season. ***After returning home and cleaning many of the fossils, I included photos of the turtle shell (clearly I do not have all the pieces) and the Nanotyrannosaurus tooth, which is not two inches long. It is still amazing. The serrations end at the jaw line so the bottom part of the tooth is actually the root. Rob did the repair work for me which I really appreciate. He is a professional and has a very steady hand.
Cheers,
Momasaurus
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