LabRatKing Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 (edited) Hello Gang! Been Missing in Action for a bit as I was out doing some field work hunting worms. While looking for a place to camp out in the middle of nowhere, I ended up finding a private ranch along the saline river which made my jaw drop (See Photo pulled from their site). Sadly, it was too short of notice for me to check it out in person and the weather was getting epic. However, it turns out they not only allow camping and fossil hunting for a small fee, they encourage it as they are very interested to learn about what they have on their property. They know nothing of the geology beyond this: The Saline River is hiding nearby. There are "shells and stuff" in the limestone. This is in Ellis County Missouri. I plan on spending a few days there exploring in the very near future. Anyway, to my question- Anyone familiar with this area? I am having difficulty finding much information on what the formation is. Edited March 25, 2021 by LabRatKing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 I am not finding any Ellis County in Missouri. No Saline River, either. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Yes, I've got Ellis County, Texas and Saline River, Arkansas. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramide Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 (edited) C2T Ranch on the Saline is in Ellis county Kansas. KGS--Geologic Map--Ellis (ku.edu) Ft. Hays limestone paleo.article.053op.pdf (ku.edu) Edited March 25, 2021 by Laramide add paper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: I am not finding any Ellis County in Missouri. No Saline River, either. Pre coffee misprint...Should be Kansas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 12 minutes ago, Laramide said: C2T Ranch on the Saline is in Ellis county Kansas. KGS--Geologic Map--Ellis (ku.edu) Ft. Hays limestone paleo.article.053op.pdf (ku.edu) Yup, that is the place! Thanks for the article, that gave me a great starting point for the pre-trip research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Yes, I've got Ellis County, Texas and Saline River, Arkansas. Yup....my typo....was making the post when I was supposedly working on writing grants and fighting with the IRB now that I am back at work. Thou shalt not post without ingesting 1200mL of black coffee first! Is Ellis County, Kansas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramide Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Another part of the article paleo.article.058op.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 Well, this looks like it is going to be a fun site relatively close to home. I think I might have to head down there next weekend or so and scout it out. Apparently, one partial Tylosaur was found near there in the late 60s. But there are lots of confirmations of the usual mollusks and fish parts, and even some smashy-smashy shark teeth in the area too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Here is a very recent article about the plans to have more camping sites at the C2T Ranch. Bonus, the Sternberg Museum of Natural History is nearby in Hays. https://hayspost.com/posts/52410f55-8946-4fd6-87c9-ce06e68a41e8 https://sternberg.fhsu.edu 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 On 3/25/2021 at 12:54 PM, DPS Ammonite said: Here is a very recent article about the plans to have more camping sites at the C2T Ranch. Bonus, the Sternberg Museum of Natural History is nearby in Hays. https://hayspost.com/posts/52410f55-8946-4fd6-87c9-ce06e68a41e8 https://sternberg.fhsu.edu The more I read up on the place, the more excited I get. It already looks amazing for camping and fossils and worm hunting, in addition to just plain old relaxation. Battling a cantankerous A.I. in my new greenhouse labs, rapid weather variations, and a desperate need to get my research going again after the "pandemic break" in addition to getting my top rope and canyon SAR certs re-done and writing more grants to go with various permits I managed to pull is proving to be a real challenge. Was going to go down there this weekend, but discovered I forgot to renew my driver's license earlier this month, so have to wait to rent (or preferably buy) something other than a low and slow VW bug for such things. We got a bit of a cold snap in these parts, so I had to change my field schedule around a bit, but I am planning on reserving a site in mid-april to do some exploring and such. I am finding that that hipcamp site may prove to be useful for both work and play, as it makes it easy to get in touch with ranchers and such. I predict dozens of new-to-me sites in various states are going to result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share Posted April 8, 2021 UPDATE: So, I have managed to chisel a four day weekend out of what is proving to be a very busy field schedule this year to check out the C2T Ranch. I traded a few messages with the owners via Hipcamp, and was extremely pleased to gain permission to fossil hunt AND worm hunt. This is a good sign. Chad and Cynthia tell me there is a total of 2480 acres (just over 9.7km2) to explore. And they are very welcoming to fossil hunters and biology folks. When I get done with this First responder cert on Wednesday, I'm headed back to Nebraska to do laundry, switch vehicles, and then head straight to Kansas to scout the sites. There is not a lot of paleontological data about the formations in the area, which makes me think either there is not much of note, or it just hasn't had a lot of attention. Studying the maps, this is going to be a great site to test out some new gear and new techniques too. I have always wanted to try my hand at "rappelling for fossils" which sounds like both a game show AND an old dude at the end of his rope, literally. I'll post a full report. Apparently, they rigged most of the ranch for wi-fi so in theory I should be able to share the excursion with you guys in near real time. My only concern is the horses...there are lots of horses...and live horses scare the <fecal expletive deleted> out of me for some reason... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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