Last Trip of the Decade

[PODIGGER]

After the holiday rush that included more rain than expected I thought a great way to end the year and the decade would be to make one last pilgrimage to the Peace River.  Upon checking the water levels and discharge flow last night and at 7 am this morning it looked like levels were coming down.  Outside temperature was about 60 degrees but I figured with the wetsuit all would be good.  So, got to the river about 8:30 am and was surprised to see how high the water level was and how fast it was moving.  But after the one hour drive and wanting to get in the year/decade ending trip I put the wetsuit on and headed up river.

 

Getting to the spot I was targeting for the day, shown above,  I did find it was deeper then expected. The area in the photo that looks like a bit of fast moving rough water is actually a small set of submerged rapids that has a 3' to 4' drop off when water levels are at their lowest.  I took the picture while sitting in the kayak where I would usually be standing on a sandy bank.  Not to be deterred I went ahead and started digging and sifting.  Had to stay out of the middle of the river and work an area where the water flow wouldn't wash everything right off the shovel before I could lift out.  Even with Mother Nature's lack of cooperation on water levels I was still able to come up with some nice finds to wrap up the year.  

A nice Glyptodont Dermal Scute, 1 1/4" full Meg, partial Meg, an Alligator tooth, couple of small Hemis and a pretty good Tiger shark tooth made the trip worth it.

 

 

It remained overcast and breezy throughout the morning with the temperature staying in the mid 60 degree range.  The water was warmer than the air temp even at noon.  At that point I decided to call it a day, year and decade and headed for home.  Passed by that deceased alligator still wedged against the log in the river.  It was being visited by the friendly neighborhood vulture who has been hanging out there with friends.  Could see that it had almost been dislodged by the high, fast moving water but I think it has arrived at its final resting place.

Took 2 more photos heading down river that show a tree stretching almost all the way across.  Last spring I actually passed up and down the river going under this tree.  A combination of the tree shifting and falling lower, and the high water level, means passing by it along the east bank for now.  This gets a little tricky when the water level drops due to a submerged pipe that runs across the river and rock a outcropping along the bank.

 

 

 

Looking forward to my first 2020 Fossil Adventure in the coming week!!

[Bone Daddy]

Man, you are killing it this season. I wish I could get out there that often. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution for 2020 - get out on the river more often.

Nice glypt scute. Those are always nice to find. 

 

I wonder what killed that big gator? Those big ones don't have any natural predators, so it was either disease/natural causes or some shot it.

 

[Ludwigia]

Nice finds. How about some close-ups of them?

[Monica]

What a nice array of found fossils for a hunting trip without ideal conditions!!!  Congratulations, and best of luck in your fossiling adventures in 2020!

[jcbshark]

Sweet color on that meg, congrats

[PODIGGER]

Thank you all for your comments.  Ludwigia, I will try to follow up with some close ups today.  Bone Daddy, I agree on the gator.  Someone may have killed it.  It is pretty "ripe" at this point with decomposition so I have been staying away from it. May be able to get close to it in another week.  By then it probably will be too late too see if it had been shot.

 

I have had what I believe to be a great first year - I have been very lucky in finding a couple of dig sites that seem to keep on giving!! 

[PODIGGER]

At Ludwigia's request here are some close ups of the Glyptodont scute, Meg and Gator teeth.

  

And here are what I consider my favorite finds of 2019: