C2T Ranch - Kansas

[LabRatKing]

Hey gang! 
 

Im on location at the C2T ranch. I’ll be updating this thread over the weekend as I stumble on new stuff.

 

base camp is set. Snow melted. Rain quit. 3 hours before dark.

 

already a bonanza.

 

this is the fire pit at my campsite:

 

[Phevo]

Looks like your off to a good start, have a good time

[Jackson g]

Goodluck!

[LabRatKing]

So, got in a little pre-dinner scouting.

This site is overwhelming so far. It has been difficult to NOT find fossils. 
 

it got to the point I started Geotagging specimens to hit up tomorrow. That’s something I normally don’t do as there isn’t cell service, but I got one bar and am not roaming!

 

     

 

    

 

 

 

[LabRatKing]

Welp, this ends the easy part. I’ve got about 12 hours of light tomorrow and the weather is going to be good.

 

Here’s the view I had at sunset...the coyotes started singing at the same moment I noticed this:

 

[LabRatKing]

Bit of snow and rain overnight, but nothing to worry about. Coyotes likely having a keg party judging by the number of separate groups singing.

 

Found some nice septarian nodules, one a meter in diameter, yesterday. Enjoyed a sunrise breakfast and busted a few open while getting the chill out of my joints:

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by LabRatKing

[Nimravis]

Looks like great fun. Invite the coyotes for dinner, they might know where some good stuff is hiding.

[FranzBernhard]

Wow, impressive - everything! And nearly a real-time trip report!

But what is this?

17 hours ago, LabRatKing said:

 

  

Thank you!
Franz Bernhard

[Coco]

What is this last mineral ? I can’t really see the shape of the crystals but they seem cubic, fluorite ?

 

Careful : they say where there are coyotes there is also Beep Beep !

 

Coco

[LabRatKing]

1 hour ago, FranzBernhard said:

Wow, impressive - everything! And nearly a real-time trip report!

But what is this?

Thank you!
Franz Bernhard

I am not certain yet, but it appears to be something akin to barnacles. They coat the exterior of just about every one of the huge bivalves at this site.

[LabRatKing]

44 minutes ago, Coco said:

What is this last mineral ? I can’t really see the shape of the crystals but they seem cubic, fluorite ?

 

Careful : they say where there are coyotes there is also Beep Beep !

 

Coco

I suspect they are calcite, however I am not certain yet. I collected additional specimens of this and the dark red/brown stuff about an hour ago. I’ll do some basic testing this evening and black light everything.

 

The septarian nodules here are huge. The range from a few centimeters to two meters!

I have a few papers on this formation that mentioned their presence but not their constituents. I’ll research this a bit this evening and more when I get home tomorrow.

[DPS Ammonite]

Those are encrusting oysters. They might be Pseudoperna congesta.

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/58968-texas-north-sulphur-river-lagerstätte/&do=findComment&comment=627859

 

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoperna

Edited April 17, 2021 by DPS Ammonite

[LabRatKing]

So, I just spent five hours exploring the bluffs.  The Smoky Hill Chalk is basically weathered to gravel and about a meter thick at the most.

 I’m calling that a bust.

 

The Hays Limestone is massive, but surprisingly porous and soft. I have found little beyond the two types of huge bivalves and what I suspect are related to either barnacles or oysters.

 

There is a bit of an issue developing though, as the river is up a good 20cm in the last few hours. Still easily forded, but is higher than my boots.

 

Not to be stopped by a little water, I got creative with merino wool and some incinerator bags. That worked well as my feet stayed warm and relatively dry!

 

 I’m just finishing lunch and some biologist work related stuff, then will head to the other third of the outcrops to see what is up.

 

No shark teeth or vertebrates of any kind yet, but they are somewhat rare to the best of my knowledge of these formations in this area.

 

It doesn’t help this is my first upper Cretaceous experience, so my eyes aren’t really trained to it yet.

[LabRatKing]

Also much of this cliff is ready to drop into the river. It wasn’t safe to get photos but a meter wide crevasse has opened about one half of the length about two meters back from the edge.

 

That means “stay away from the cliffs, Johnny, or they will never find your corpse under all that!”

[LabRatKing]

Whew.

 

15 hours. Lots of up and down scrambles and multiple river fords. I’m beat.

But I found some awesome fossils. I learned a ton about this geology.

 

I just cooked and ate a roughly 5000 calorie dinner.

 

and the sun has set. Time for science!

 

here are some of my finds under LED blacklight while the coyotes sing and a large owl keeps questioning my identity:

 

Not all are fossils. Some are various minerals from the Blue Hill Shale septarian nodules 

 

[LabRatKing]

And here’s some more interesting, but not groundbreaking finds from earlier:

 

[LabRatKing]

And a few other interesting bits, some fossil some just neato:

 

[FranzBernhard]

10 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Those are encrusting oysters.

Thank you!

Franz Bernhard

[Wrangellian]

Good report. Looks like a rockhound's paradise, somewhat - minerals and fossils. Any idea what mineral that is below the yellow flowers, and were you able to remove them or the Pseudoperna(?) clusters, intact?

[LabRatKing]

7 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Good report. Looks like a rockhound's paradise, somewhat - minerals and fossils. Any idea what mineral that is below the yellow flowers, and were you able to remove them or the Pseudoperna(?) clusters, intact?

I’m not certain what those triangular crystals are on that concretion, but will research when home!

[LabRatKing]

Well had to make a hard call about an hour before sunrise...

 

my R7 sleeping pad isn’t and had some freezing fog overnight. Woke up with a mild case of hypothermia. For first time ever had to break open a rescue blanket and try to make coffee with stiff hands. In process I managed to cut my left index finger badly enough I had to bust out the suture kit...

 

needless to say a certain company that sells specialty cold weather gear is going to get some very strongly worded calls...

 

the good news is I’m fine and about an hour and a half from home...and I of course saved the best finds for last, which I’ll post after a shower and what should be an entertaining verbal reprimand from my wife.

 

will update and close this out in a few hours!

[jpc]

great report.  A bit of an adventure.  I am plannig a couple weeks out in early May.  I will be using my cold weather sleeping bag.  

[DPS Ammonite]

5 hours ago, LabRatKing said:

my R7 sleeping pad isn’t and had some freezing fog overnight. Woke up with a mild case of hypothermia. For first time ever had to break open a rescue blanket and try to make coffee with stiff hands.

 

Hopefully you have fully recovered.
 

What were you wearing; what kind of sleeping bag did you use? Did you use a tent? The temperature ratings of sleeping bags require proper interpretation and have many unspecified assumptions.

[Ludwigia]

[LabRatKing]

23 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

 

Hopefully you have fully recovered.
 

What were you wearing; what kind of sleeping bag did you use? Did you use a tent? The temperature ratings of sleeping bags require proper interpretation and have many unspecified assumptions.

Oh, in this case I was testing out new gear, however the low last night was far below any forecasts.

 

I had tried out my new Nemo the previous night and it was too warm, so I swapped to my trusty marmot.

 

anywhere touching the pad was cold. So, got the Nemo back out around 0200. By 0500, same result, and much colder. Doors were frozen shut on the rental (jeep not ready yet) due to the glaze of ice! 
 

the thermarest is getting returned and I’ll go back to using my klymit!