Not!
Just thought it would get more people to read my blog. :-) The reality of the fossil club camping trip was a group of really nice people getting together to indulge in a shared passion for fossil hunting.
Day 1
My fossil-digging buddy, Pam, arranged the weekend for us at the Payne Creek State Park primitive camping area. I liked the "Youth Camp" sign and there were actually a couple of "youths" in our group. And what a group of prepared campers! Everyone was completely set up to be lost in the woods for a month.
I think it speaks to the success of the backyard chicken movement that everyone had at least a dozen eggs from their own hens. I calculated a gross of happy hen eggs in the campground.
I kayaked and dug with Pam and 2 other ladies on Friday but a wet winter has kept the river level frustratingly high and we didn't find much. I worked an area that yielded tantalizing fragments of megalodon teeth with light brown roots (not the usual black of the Peace River) but I never found a complete tooth.
A camping caution: don't be a hero and try to find your toothpaste without turning your headlamp on. It could go terrible wrong.
Day 2
Day 2's selfie shows I am still smiling, feeling good after a solid night's sleep to the sound of gentle rain. The only problem was, the gentle rain was forecast to turn into a monsoon later that afternoon but I shelved my concerns to focus on the river.
The group went downstream of me for some distance as I was already embedded and I spent the day digging alone which doesn't bother me. What bothered me was not finding any fossils. By 1pm the thunder was rolling and clouds blowing in and I was ranting out loud, "Could you people (previous diggers) not have left me one single good fossil?!" I was mid-curse when I saw this in my screen:
Not perfect but a pretty darn good meg by my standards, measuring 2.75". My work for the day was done so I packed it up and headed back to camp where it was starting to rain and get dark from storm clouds. The ranger showed up to tell us that very bad weather was coming and we could hang out in the visitor center if needed.
And so I made the executive decision to leave.
True to my nature, I have stubbornly been hanging on to one of the oldest 2-man tents in continuous usage. It's tiny and the UV-ravaged fly is about as waterproof as cheesecloth. I own an almost brand new 4-man tent and I was suddenly wishing, very badly, that I had it with me.
I announced to the group that I was packing it in and heading to a hotel for the night and was amazed at the amount of ribbing I got. I'm thinking they were trying to make themselves feel better about the tornado watch and maybe a little bit jealous. Either way, I've earned my chops camping in inclement weather so I didn't waste a second waving goodbye. The storm was horrible and I would have been terrified and miserable so, no regrets!
Day 3
I started day 3 clean and refreshed and very determined to find something good. I didn't bring my new GoPro on the trip but, as I made my way down river, I pondered how it would do with slow, plodding activities. Fossiling is the opposite of, say, snowboarding. I'll test it out in the near future.
The group stayed together to dig. There is plenty of gravel in this area and we found a few little things but for all the work, there wasn't much to show. The water and wind were both cold and only Pam and me were outfitted in wetsuits. Spirits were flagging. We called it a day by 1pm but I admired them for sticking it out that long. I hate being cold and I wouldn't have made it without my thick neoprene skin.
Conclusion
First, I'd like to apologize for the hole in the butt of my favorite camo shorts. I didn't realize it until I got home so I'll mend those before I bring them out in public again.
I found 4 interesting small teeth in addition to the meg.
The top tooth is either from a manatee or a baby mastadon, both exciting possibilities. The teeth below it, from left to right, are (probably), small bison, porpoise, and deer. All 4 are curio cabinet-worthy.
The rest of the haul was a bit bland as everything was very worn or broken.
I'm back home and running around like crazy playing catch up so I probably won't do a 2 night camping trip again. But I'm still open for the occasional overnight on the river.
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