Search the Community

This is probably going to be a long post, so I hope you're bored! This is an area I have wanted to visit since I was a little kid and first wanted to be a Paleontologist. Unfortunately, this area was a long way from my family's normal vacationing route so I never made it. One of my other past-times is running. I got into running half marathons and then decided I wanted to run one in every state. I was supposed to come last year, but, well, covid sucked the fun out of everything. Anyway, Vernal Utah (known as dinosaurland and home to the Dinosaur National Monument) hosts an annual dino-themed half-marathon. I mean, come on, how can I NOT run this race??! So, my shift at the fire dept ended at 7am this morning, and at 7:01 I was on the road in Oklahoma. I have to say, being a fossil hunter sucks as you drive! Driving up the Kansas 281, just shy of I-70 there is a very nice uplift with lots of cuts and looks to be a lot of shale. I wanted to stop and inspect some interesting road cuts, but I had zero time to waste. So I drove past fossil lake, onto I -70 towards Colorado. I waved hello as I passed by the Sternberg in Hays, and I spotted a sign for another museum (the Fick or Frick, I cant remember) so I will have to go back and visit when I have more time. Of course lots nice chalky outcrops visible driving through that part of Kansas, an so many wonderful fossils buried. The bad part about driving through this part of the country is that every mile looks pretty much the same. Hour after hour of the same flat plains and wind turbines. I made my only stop for fuel in Limon. 500 miles and only about halfway there. I finally caught sight of the Rockies about 100 miles east of Denver. I always love mountains, and catching the first glimpse on a trip is always special for me. Dont know why, just always love it. But then I had to drive through Denver. I hate Denver. North/south or east/west it doesnt matter. Driving there is always horrible. Then You have I-70 through the mountains. Lovely. Beautiful. Majestic. Hair raising. You have 200 miles of road that twists and turns, sometimes very sharply, packed with drivers. Some want to drive 80, some want to drive 50, and then the semi trucks which can barely drive 30. Then mix in construction every 10 miles. I'm just glad I wasnt pulling my camper this trip! On a side note, dont go to Vail. I pulled off into that town to try to stop for a pee break. WRONG! Never driving through there again. The interesting thing about this road, is that most of the middle is the volcanic/granite/iron/gold/etc mountains. Then as you drive, you come around a bend and suddenly you are surrounded by massive sedimentary cliffs. Without consulting a geological map, I think it was probably Morrison formation, at least part of it. Then things flatten out and get boring until I reached Rifle. As soon as I got north of Rifle on hwy 13, its just dino hunting drool inspiring formations. All the way up to Dinosaur Colorado and of course continuing on to Vernal. Just mile after mile of hills, cuts, valleys, washes, and mountains of sedimentary layer I want to climb and explore. Finally though, after just short of 14 hours of non-stop driving I arrived. Dog tired but too wired to sleep at the moment. Race isnt for a couple days, so tomorrow will be prospecting for sea-life and seeing some local sights. After Saturday's race, I'll go hunt some more before heading back home for another 14 hours marathon drive. I'll post pics and report on some hopefully productive digging!

Morrison Formation yields remains of predatory insect. Utah State Parks Blog, Vernal, Utah https://stateparks.utah.gov/2020/05/20/famous-dinosaur-producing-rocks-in-utah-yield-fossil-of-large-predatory-insect/ Jurassic bug: Researchers find 151-million-year-old Morrisonnepa Jurassica insect fossil in Utah by Jordan Culver, USA TODAY, May 22, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/21/morrisonnepa-jurassica-151-million-year-old-bug-fossil-utah/5234187002/ the paper is: Lara, M.B., Foster, J.R., Kirkland, J.I. and Howells, T.F., 2020. First fossil true water bugs (Heteroptera, Nepomorpha) from Upper Jurassic strata of North America (Morrison Formation, southeastern Utah). Historical Biology, pp.1-9. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2020.1755283 Yours, Paul H.

This spring break (March 17th-23rd) my girlfriend and I are planning a trip in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. It looks like most of the big dig sites are closed for the season, which was a disappointment for us to see. The tentative plan was to go through Kemmerer from Salt Lake (home,) and hit the digs sites there, go through Vernal to the Quarry and the Prehistoric Museum there, then to Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado with a possibility of hitting Price Utah and the Cleveland Lloyd Quarry on the way back. Without any of the digs open, it seems like we're just trying to find simple things to kill our time, but we'd rather be out doing more engaging fossil hunting or learning. Does anyone have recommendations for areas somewhere nearby where our travels will take us? Any suggestions for digs, museums, cool fossil shops, or even just pretty places to camp are all welcome and greatly appreciated!

Going through various rocks and fossils I found this one is perplexing found near Fantasy Canyon access road 4"across 7"long and weighs 3.5 lbs. More images forthcoming thanks for looking⚒