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A HOT Weekend in GMR!


SailingAlongToo

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The Plan:

A small group was planning to go fossil hunting on a certain NC river for my birthday weekend this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, we knew the rivers had been running high, some hadn't crested yet and by Tuesday we gave up hope on a boat ride along the river to one of our favorite places.

The (Modified) Trip:

Given we all already had the 3 day weekend off (and it was still my birthday weekend) we adjusted our plans, a few folks dropped out, and five buddies, my wife and I instead made the trek southeast for some fossil hunting in Greens Mill Run. Included in the group was TFF member Daleksec. Talk about a HOT weekend, in more ways than one. Yes, the temps were in the mid to upper 90s, humidity was above 70%, the heat index on Friday was around 105 and Sunday was around 110, but we are all experienced fossil hunters and used to summer time in the Mid-Atlantic.

Of the 7 of us, we had 3 different places along GMR where 1 or 2 of us had collected successfully, so we made a plan to hit all 3 spots over the 3 days. Turns out, 1 in the group has hunted GMR for over 25 years with considerable success, which he failed to mention until we all got there. :-) He inevitably became "The Guide." Of the 7 of us, there were at least 10 different methods to successfully find fossils this weekend. Now, you have to get a real feel for this group, no pun goes unintended, no innuendo or double entendre goes unchallenged and nothing obvious is really that obvious, without complete clarification and confirmation of the clarification. To say that we had a blast would be an understatement. I'm positive that everyone had sore stomach muscles at some point in the trip from laughing so hard. There were quite a few instances where the raucous laughter actually interrupted the fossil hunting so a person could regain their breath and composure.

I will say, at least we didn't get accosted by Pokemon Go players this trip, like we did on our last trip to GMR. :-)

The Spoils of the Screen:

We started out after lunch Friday by picking 1 of 3 spots we wanted to try and "moving in." Anyone who saw us heading to the creek would have just shaken their heads. Here is part of the group getting going. For the record, the chair is mine.

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Here is a small tooth my wife screened, which will end up being a give-a-way since she wanted more than a 3/4" tooth for her efforts on this hot/humid day. (For scale, screen size is 1/4"). At least we didn't get skunked and it broke the ice.

This 1" tooth made her a little happier and gave her the energy to keep digging. (Screen size is 1/4")

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One of my buddies from MD who volunteers in the fossil section of a large, famous museum in DC, has a unique method for fossil hunting at GMR. He sits down and basically "noodles" under rocks, in holes, in the mud, etc. for whatever he can find. Here is a photo of him "staying cool" while hunting.

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Apparently, his method works fairly well because he came away with this awesome vertebrae.

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Another close up view sitting in the screen.

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After the excitement of his very nice find we took a break, which involved much story telling, chiding and laughter.

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More to come..........

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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After the break we kept screening and "noodling" for other treasures.

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My wife started getting in the grove and popped up a couple of nice teeth.

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"The Guide" screened up a beautiful 2" mosasaur tooth. (Will add photo later.)

After "The Guide" moved out of his first hole, my wife decided to practice "noodling" for treasure under the rocks along the border. I convinced her to wear kevlar reinforced gloves to prevent her from getting cut by broken glass. (THERE IS A LOT OF BROKEN GLASS IN GMR!) Notice the "paleo" clay squares and pavement/asphalt lying around the top of the hole. We had great fun and laughter taking turns "naming" the paleo bricks and pavement/asphalt. (The cup floating by isn't ours, but we did save it from drowning and disposed of it properly.)

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Her "noodling" worked because she pulled a decent GW out from under the rocks, though the root was broken.

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That pretty much ended our day of hunting given that we were all wet, sandy and smelly.

More to come.........

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Saturday night was my birthday dinner and we had Mexican, recommended by Google. I told the lady that I wanted a huge margarita before my dinner. She actually brought me a margarita in a 1 gallon fish bowl!!!!!! Now, THAT was a great margarita after a 110 degree heat index and a day of digging, screening and laughing.

Sunday Screening

Sunday, we went back to our Friday spot to finish off some good sized gravel in the holes. That ended fairly quickly so we tried out a different spot upstream. It turned out fairly well for Daleksec who found 10 lbs or so of large whale bones including 2 ear bones. Of course, "The Guide" had to hit the mother lode again and found this pristine 2 7/8" GW in another one of his holes. Sorry, 1 of the photos isn't focused very well. While taking the photos I was having a hard time not grabbing it and running, plus the sun was coming through the trees casting weird shadows.

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My wife and I found quite a few teeth screening plus a bunch of large whale bones, but nothing worth showing off. The whale bone went to Daleksec for his collection.

We left about 1pm since we had a little drive home. The Guide stayed another couple of hours. Rumor has it, (well, he texted me) that he found another "larger" mosasaur tooth than his 2" one from earlier in the weekend. A comment during the weekend that got much laughter and commentary, "(The Guide) must have a golden horseshoe up his butt, cause he finds everything." Might have had something to do with his 25 years of experience hunting on GMR.

All in all, a great birthday weekend with some folks that I would be happy to hunt / hang out with on any given day.

Cheers!

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Tony,

I will definitely post more but I have to resize them after I go through the 180+ photos I took on the camera and 20 or so I took on the phone, to pick out the good ones.

Jack

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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. Of course, "The Guide" had to hit the mother lode again and found this pristine 2 7/8" mako in another one of his holes. Sorry, 1 of the photos isn't focused very well. While taking the photos I was having a hard time not grabbing it and running, plus the sun was coming through the trees casting weird shadows.

attachicon.gif3 inch GW.1.jpg attachicon.gif3 inch GW.jpg

Nice tooth. I think you meant to call this a great white, not mako. I managed to do some collecting Sunday. Too hot for a small creek like Greens Mill Run. I prefer rivers so I can spend as much time swimming as I do hunting.

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Happy Birthday....That 2 7/8 tooth you mentioned looks like a great white tooth which would be a much greater find then a big mako.

Here is a picture with a mako,, great white,,, and a meg

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Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Nice tooth. I think you meant to call this a great white, not mako. I managed to do some collecting Sunday. Too hot for a small creek like Greens Mill Run. I prefer rivers so I can spend as much time swimming as I do hunting.

You are correct. I hate getting interrupted and distracted while I'm trying type. Correction made. Thanks for pointing it out.

We stayed in the shade most of the day and actually had a breeze most of the weekend. As you know, there are some deeper holes along GMR which we cooled off in frequently. Of course, my wife discovered when you wade in or float in a deeper hole in a shady spot there might already be something lurking / living in there. She got chomped a few times by a couple of hand size fish and nibbled on a few more times by smaller ones. At one point, she was jogging in place in waist deep water to keep the fish from nibbling her legs. I should have taken photos / video of THAT. :-)

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Happy Birthday....That 2 7/8 tooth you mentioned looks like a great white tooth which would be a much greater find then a big mako.

Here is a picture with a mako,, great white,,, and a meg

attachicon.gifmakogrtwhtmeg.JPG

Yes Tony. You are correct. My distracted typo. Corrected.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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That was a fun report to read. Thanks. Sure sounds like a fun weekend. Nothing beats a dip in the pristine water of GMR. :P

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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Great report and nice finds...... That GW is gorgeous : )

Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!

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Sounds like a fun trip. Wish I had known you all were in town I could have popped over. Would love to see a picture of the 2" mos tooth as that is quite an unusual size from there. Looks like I may have some competition from your guide ha

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Happy Birthday, SailingAlongToo! Glad it was a fun weekend!! What awesome finds, too! Looks like it was a lot of fun, and you guys stayed cool in the water. Pretty much perfect!

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Commendable to have spent this past weekend out there, it is HOT HOT HOT here - I am just amazed about the noodling technique - you are a brave soul doing something like that at GMR with all the snapping turtles and glass etc haha. AMAZING finds though, that's an awesome trip for GMR!! Makes me regret staying inside playing Xbox this past sat. (I live here in town) b/c I was just not feeling the heat/humidity!

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Commendable to have spent this past weekend out there, it is HOT HOT HOT here - I am just amazed about the noodling technique - you are a brave soul doing something like that at GMR with all the snapping turtles and glass etc haha. AMAZING finds though, that's an awesome trip for GMR!! Makes me regret staying inside playing Xbox this past sat. (I live here in town) b/c I was just not feeling the heat/humidity!

Believe it or not, the heat index didn't cause too many issues because we had a breeze most of it and we stayed in the shade as much as possible. We were also in the water hunting / screening the entire time. The main issue was that it prevented perspiration from evaporating but we were wet anyway from being in the water. Not getting any broken skin injuries was my main concern because as you know, that water can be quite nasty.

Daleksec did find a cute little water turtle about 8" across but it wasn't a snapper. We played with him and let him go on his way. My wife REALLY didn't like the biting / nibbling fish. It was quite comical watching her dance while digging and screening to keep them from getting her legs.

We will definitely be going back in the near future, on a non-home game weekend of course and will definitely be hitting up Plaza Azteca again. That place rocked!

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World

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Great trip report and it looks like the group found some fantastic fossils, particularly that great white tooth!

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Jack, looks like you guys did pretty well. Worked out best for me to cancel. Just got back home this afternoon, looking forward to a trip to one of my river spots in the morning before heading back to work Tuesday.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

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