What I Learned Today

[fosldog]

I learned something today, hopefully I will retain the knowledge but thats rather doubtful.

Todays lesson was always pack out the fossil the first time when conditions are nice.

Last weekend was sunny and seventy and the first nice day we have had here in NW Oregon since maybe last fall.

I decided to go hit a few crab locations to see what the winters storms had exposed.

Found a few nice concretions and then headed for a draiage that had a massive landslide in December where I found a few pieces of petrified wood before.

Long story short was I found one big honkin pece of wood but it was late afternoon,I was hot,sweaty and tired from a full days slogging up creeks and being about 1/3 mile down a steep narrow drainage full of blown down timber, I would be simply amazed if anyone else ventured down here so I figured my prize was safe.

Today I went back to retrieve it and what a difference a week makes! Today was in the low 30's, 3 inches of new snow,and snowing when I got to my site. Not too sure if Im dedicated,stubborn,crazy or a combination there of,but I did manage to pack that baby out. Took an hour and a half to go what would normally take me 20 minutes. Im a forester in real life so Im used to walking in the woods.

I put it on the scale when I got home and it weighed out at a whopping 110 lbs! No wonder I was tired when I got to the road. Its a bit fractured and wouldnt cut up well so I figure I will just square off the but end and make a stand up as it will make for a good conversation pice and a good story to tell.

[Guest Cris]

110 pounds! Good lord... That'll tire out just about anyone..... Reminds me of Anson and I lugging a 150+ pound chunk or coral to the truck from under a bridge....haha

[RJB]

Hey Fosldog. Been there and done that a few hundred times. Looking back now, I did some amazing things, it just didnt seem so at the time. Anyways, how about a pic of your new table?

RB

[Rain1950]

Good lord!!

I've packed out some hefty weights in the past, but I'm all of 140 lbs and could never attempt that

[geofossil]

Good lord!!

I've packed out some hefty weights in the past, but I'm all of 140 lbs and could never attempt that

I'm about the same weight.

Many moons ago I was collecting in the badlands and came upon 'the perfect' buffalo skull in the undercut of a seasonal stream. It was jammed full of hardened bentonite clay and probably weighed about 30 kilos. I sweated for a couple hours hauling that sucker out. 90 degree heat and up and over hoodoos, slopes and so on. I finally get back to the Jeep half dead and drive home all eager to put it 'just the right' spot in the garden. I hauled it out of the Jeep, and got out the hose to get some of the mud off. I put the nozzle on, pointed it at the skull and in 30 seconds the whole thing was a pile of 'bits'. The clay had been holding everything firm and as soon as the nozzle hit, everything collapsed.

Moral of the story? There isn't one because being true fossil addicts we can't resist doing crazy things and are doomed to haul out heavy objects for the rest of our years.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

I usually leave the big stuff behind, but years ago while on a backpacking trip in the Appalachian Plateau, I came across a siderized log in the face of a cliff. I managed to free about a 1 foot section of the log and strapped the thing on my pack.

It increased my load to about 120 lb, but I hiked for the rest of the day, and finally got it back to the vehicle.

[Fruitbat]

I wish I could remember all of the times that I've been involved in hauling out 100+ pound plaster casts of fossils over the years. From titanothere skulls to entire mammoth tusks...they've all been worth the effort. I've been lucky in never having one disintegrate like geofossil's bison skull but I have had them come out in more than a few pieces that had to be carefully put back together again. I guess that using lots of plaster and burlap, while it does add to the weight when trying to move the things, does have its advantages!

-Joe

[geofossil]

I usually leave the big stuff behind, but years ago while on a backpacking trip in the Appalachian Plateau, I came across a siderized log in the face of a cliff. I managed to free about a 1 foot section of the log and strapped the thing on my pack.

It increased my load to about 120 lb, but I hiked for the rest of the day, and finally got it back to the vehicle.

We certainly appreciate the specimens we had to work for.

We rarely collect anything 'big'...most dino stuff like teeth, phalanges, etc. fit into a Zip-lock bag. One time, however my wife and I had parked the Jeep and cycled in a few kms into badland and then walked. There were lots of bigger specimens like pelvis bones, femurs, etc. They are rarely intact but I did come across a nice complete small Ceratopsian femur about 18" long and 25 or so kilos. I managed to squeeze it into my day pack and haul it back to the bike. I then started cycling with great effort. I rode over a gopher hole and the wheel got stuck and the bike stopped dead. I went over the handlebars and then fell down a small slope. My wife thought I was a gonner but she knew I was ok when I muttered was 'Is the bone okay?'. Sure enough, opened up the pack and nothing broken....that specimen was well worth the bruises and cactus spines in my . The femur now sits on one of our fossil shelves. It's not the greatest specimen in the world but special to us.

[geofossil]

I wish I could remember all of the times that I've been involved in hauling out 100+ pound plaster casts of fossils over the years. From titanothere skulls to entire mammoth tusks...they've all been worth the effort. I've been lucky in never having one disintegrate like geofossil's bison skull but I have had them come out in more than a few pieces that had to be carefully put back together again. I guess that using lots of plaster and burlap, while it does add to the weight when trying to move the things, does have its advantages!

-Joe

Fortunately most of the vertebrate material we collect is intact...like teeth, phalanges,vertebrae, etc. When I first started collecting in our badlands I'd try to prepare larger material. We discovered, however, we'd find better 'stuff' spending the couple hours hiking around than sitting working on a specimen. Spend an hour on a hadrosaur rib or find a half dozen teeth etc. scouring the area? It's also just nice to return to a remote area and see the specimens as we left them the time before.

We rarely come intact skulls like your material. The couple I've come across would need a crew working a week or so and then some means of airlift out.