All good things must come to an end
and the Great Western Fossil Adventure was no different.
Not only were we physically worn out, we all shared a nasty head cold
from being in the truck together for so many hours.
Time to strike camp and get to the Blue Moon Quarry in Kemmerer, WY.
We were the only people hunting fossils that day, maybe because it was a Monday.
The owner was laid back and friendly; showed us what to do then turned us loose.
He did warn us that if we found the edge of a fossil, STOP HAMMERING. The fossils are very fragile, the slate feels like chalk, and an inexperienced hunter can wreck a good fossil with a single hammer blow. I know this for a fact because I wrecked my 2 best fish that way.
What was my compulsion to keep hammering?!!! Anyway...
Beautiful scenery.
Great company.
A perfect finale to a wonderful trip.
Pam found the best fossil fish. Its tail is still hidden under the shale (STOP HAMMERING!) and she can carefully expose it at home. The spine of the fish is filled with glittering white calcite crystals, AND she has the "negative" of the fish: the other side of the shale, which is almost as good as the "good" side. Very impressive!
The last 4 hours kinda felt like 8.
I'm thinking the next trip I plan should involve some relaxation, too.
I took the fish fossils in my carry on luggage as they were too fragile to ship.
Here's a before of my best fish fossil:
Here's how it looks after I carefully removed some of the remaining shale:
Here's a detail of a fish fossil that is over 48 million years old:
Next year...and yes, I'm already thinking about next year...
I'll plan another fossil adventure!
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