St. Clair White Fern Fossils - 7/28/12

[mzkleen]

I read on the forum here last week about the possibility of a landfill operation going in at St. Clair at or near the white fern fossil site. I decided it was time for me to make a trip from my home in the Harrisburg PA suburbs and head north on I-81 to St. Clair on Saturday. I had never been to St. Clair for the fern fossils. I got off 81 at the St. Clair/Rt 61 exit and drove down the mountain to St. Clair. I found the street that I needed to turn on that would take me to the mining company property. Burma Rd goes up the mountain there and then I started looking for the parking area at the trail. I found it on the 2nd try and pulled in.

There was a man and his wife who were getting their backpacking equipment out of their SUV when I pulled in. I asked them if I had the right place for the fern fossils and he said yes. We got to talking and one of us mentioned Fossil Forum and realized we were all members here. He is Hitekmastr and his wife Nancy. They finished getting their gear together and were ready to hike on the trail back to the mine. As they left I started to get my gear together, made sure I had all my tools, my water bottles and other stuff that I would need. I was now ready for my hike.

I started hiking on the trail, made my left turn on the other trail to start the 750 yard hike to the mine. I was excited to be there and couldn't wait to see the fern fossils for myself. When I got back to the mine I caught up with Hytecmastr & Nancy & she had already found a small fern fossil by her feet. They decided to go off in one direction and I started hiking down the gully and up the other side. I hiked quite a distance and decided to stop and start looking. I found some on the surface & they weren't really good. I decided to go back to where I came in and look around there since several seams come to the surface there. I found a spot to dig and started digging. I was finding good ferns. Most of the ferns that you will see were from my spot here. It was hot & humid on Saturday, and I'm digging & thinking why am I doing this on such a hot day? I think we all ask that question of ourselves at times.

I found quite a few very nice ferns, and I found some plates that were all white. Interesting. I was there for about 2 hours and then decided I had enough for my collection. The sky was starting to cloud up a bit and I didn't want to get stuck back there in a storm. So I packed up my stuff and started hiking back up the trail. I was about half way up this trail when I heard a noise. I stopped to listen and heard it again. It sounded like a bear cub. It's a sound I've heard before. I looked in the direction it was coming from but didn't see anything. The bushes and trees are really dense along the one side of the trail. I saw a huge rhododendron starting to shake about 20 ft away. The bear was still making noises. I thought if that is a bear cub then that means momma is nearby. I started hiking really fast up the trail and kept looking back but I didn't see anything. I don't want any close encounters!

I made it back to my car and took a break and drank some more water. It was hot! I put my gear in the car and started heading back down to St. Clair. I stopped to get something to munch on and then started back on my way home. I had a successful trip and I was happy. I got some ferns!!Here I am at the mine.Here's my digging spot.

[mzkleen]

Here's the link to see all my St. Clair pictures.

https://picasaweb.google.com/mzkleen/RecentlyUpdated?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSU1Z-Wo7D2kwE

Sorry for the delay, I was having some technical difficulties.

[Raistlin]

Those are some really nice fern fossils. I wish there was a place near here that contained such fossils.

[mzkleen]

Well Robert, we can always make a trade! I'll send you some ferns for whatever you have from your area.

[Raistlin]

That sounds cool. I get a lot of horn corals around here, some crinoid bits (still looking for more complete ones), and different gastropods. Most of the stuff around here is devonian, ordovician, and some silurian.

[hitekmastr]

I read on the forum here last week about the possibility of a landfill operation going in at St. Clair at or near the white fern fossil site. I decided it was time for me to make a trip from my home in the Harrisburg PA suburbs and head north on I-81 to St. Clair on Saturday. I had never been to St. Clair for the fern fossils. I got off 81 at the St. Clair/Rt 61 exit and drove down the mountain to St. Clair. I found the street that I needed to turn on that would take me to the mining company property. Burma Rd goes up the mountain there and then I started looking for the parking area at the trail. I found it on the 2nd try and pulled in.

There was a man and his wife who were getting their backpacking equipment out of their SUV when I pulled in. I asked them if I had the right place for the fern fossils and he said yes. We got to talking and one of us mentioned Fossil Forum and realized we were all members here. He is Hitekmastr and his wife Nancy. They finished getting their gear together and were ready to hike on the trail back to the mine. As they left I started to get my gear together, made sure I had all my tools, my water bottles and other stuff that I would need. I was now ready for my hike.

I started hiking on the trail, made my left turn on the other trail to start the 750 yard hike to the mine. I was excited to be there and couldn't wait to see the fern fossils for myself. When I got back to the mine I caught up with Hytecmastr & Nancy & she had already found a small fern fossil by her feet. They decided to go off in one direction and I started hiking down the gully and up the other side. I hiked quite a distance and decided to stop and start looking. I found some on the surface & they weren't really good. I decided to go back to where I came in and look around there since several seams come to the surface there. I found a spot to dig and started digging. I was finding good ferns. Most of the ferns that you will see were from my spot here. It was hot & humid on Saturday, and I'm digging & thinking why am I doing this on such a hot day? I think we all ask that question of ourselves at times.

I found quite a few very nice ferns, and I found some plates that were all white. Interesting. I was there for about 2 hours and then decided I had enough for my collection. The sky was starting to cloud up a bit and I didn't want to get stuck back there in a storm. So I packed up my stuff and started hiking back up the trail. I was about half way up this trail when I heard a noise. I stopped to listen and heard it again. It sounded like a bear cub. It's a sound I've heard before. I looked in the direction it was coming from but didn't see anything. The bushes and trees are really dense along the one side of the trail. I saw a huge rhododendron starting to shake about 20 ft away. The bear was still making noises. I thought if that is a bear cub then that means momma is nearby. I started hiking really fast up the trail and kept looking back but I didn't see anything. I don't want any close encounters!

I made it back to my car and took a break and drank some more water. It was hot! I put my gear in the car and started heading back down to St. Clair. I stopped to get something to munch on and then started back on my way home. I had a successful trip and I was happy. I got some ferns!!Here I am at the mine.Here's my digging spot.

Wow - that's an exciting trip report....to add to your story, when Nancy and I came back on the trail, I showed Nancy some bear scat and mentioned that this wasn't here when we arrived. I said, "There must be a black bear around here somewhere, but they usually avoid people." So we continued down the trail. Apparently that was from the bear (and cub) you encountered earlier in the day. I actually made the trip in and out TWICE (once to carry out the large piece we excavated) but missed the bear. Thanks for sharing about the bear and cub because we may return this weekend and will be cautious on the trail.

[Bullsnake]

Nice looking fossils! Congratulations!

Great report, and it's cool to see you met another FF member. I've been seeing some of their nice finds on here, too.