Blasdell/Hamburg NY Part 2

[ischua]

@Kane I don't understand how you kept going with the sunburn you got the first day. Even the backs of my hands still hurt from mine. The cut on my kept me one handed and the joint damage in my shoulders finally put me down in the rock removal department. I would have loved to continue the other days. Not as young as I want to think I am taking longer to recover.  

[Kane]

@ischua Fortunately, the sunburn faded into a tan within about a day. Given all the stuff you had to endure, you were still pulling out great pieces!

[Kane]

Deb was the trip's shutterbug, so here come some trip pics. On day one, Deb and I arrived at the site on the Thursday, meeting up with @Fossildude19. It was a very productive day. Here I am with our new wagon - so glad Deb bought it, as it helped ferry tools to the site, and back (with our load of fossils). It's a very long walk from the car to the productive pit.

[Kane]

As we came on site, we were clearly disturbing some white-tailed deer.

[Kane]

On day two, a picture of some of our TFF crew:

[Kane]

And another, with another added to the mix.

[Kane]

A wild turkey in full display. This one is for @ischua

[Fossil-Hound]

Just now, Kane said:

On day two, a picture of some of our TFF crew:

 

I'll have to cite the individuals here (left-to-right): @jsnrice (myself)@DevonianDigger And @ischua above him then of course there is @Kane and to the right of him @drobare

[Kane]

Thanks, @jsnrice (didn't know who would be a bit shy to be named!). And this is taking a lot longer with motel wifi.

And here we are getting to work:

[Darktooth]

Geez, these pics are making  me wish I could be out there hunting with you guys!

[Kane]

Day two was very prosperous for all of us, and there were even some very generous gifting by a few of our members from our respective areas of collecting. We cut a nice, deep trench facing on three sides. Day three was a bit iffy, as there was rain in the afternoon - but we got digging into the morning, and then Deb and I returned in the late afternoon for more bench-making.

 

Day four was Easter, so it was just Deb, @DevonianDigger and me. But, man, did we work that pit! A picture of us at work.

 

Lots more pics to come of the finds from me, and everyone else who made this trip a great and memorable one. Oh, the trilobites we inadvertently destroyed in the process, or when some silly people (i.e., me) would not heed Tim's sage advice never to trim in the field 

 

But, all in all, it was great to meet and dig with everyone. After four days of us, there isn't much left to find, lol.

[Pagurus]

Thanks for the photos of the chain gang. 

[Peat Burns]

Awesome trip report everybody.  I could "live" at Penn Dixie.  My problem is that day trips force me to choose between the brachiopods down in the corner or the trilos up higher.  I usually choose to spend most of the day in the "brachiopod layer" (which may explain why I don't have a nice, complete Greenops yet...).  There's so many well-preserved  goodies of all kinds down there.  

 

But it's amazing how many great complete trilobites (mainly Eldredgeops) are left in the chunks in people's spoil piles.  So much so that I rarely pry up virgin matrix.  I just sit and split spoil pile material. ..

[Kane]

4 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

Awesome trip report everybody.  I could "live" at Penn Dixie.  My problem is that day trips force me to choose between the brachiopods down in the corner or the trilos up higher.  I usually choose to spend most of the day in the "brachiopod layer" (which may explain why I don't have a nice, complete Greenops yet...).  There's so many well-preserved  goodies of all kinds down there.  

 

But it's amazing how many great complete trilobites (mainly Eldredgeops) are left in the chunks in people's spoil piles.  So much so that I rarely pry up virgin matrix.  I just sit and split spoil pile material. ..

The spoil piles can definitely be productive. For some reason, we didn't find our usual brach area all that productive this time (though some big Spinatrypa etc., could still be had). But there is something to be said - for me at least - of that distinctive feel of throwing down a heavy wedge, driving it with a heavy sledge, and then using the pry bar to haul out an enormous slab... with that distinctive stone creak/crunch sound. 

[Peat Burns]

Just now, Kane said:

The spoil piles can definitely be productive. For some reason, we didn't find our usual brach area all that productive this time (though some big Spinatrypa etc., could still be had). But there is something to be said - for me at least - of that distinctive feel of throwing down a heavy wedge, driving it with a heavy sledge, and then using the pry bar to haul out an enormous slab... with that distinctive stone creak/crunch sound. 

Haha.  I definitely love that "pop" sound when prying and you get a good break.  But the lure of successfully excavating a complete Spinatrypa is also hard to resist   I got this one a couple years ago.  

[Kane]

Now that's a find! It's very difficult to find one with the spines intact.  That layer can be very fragile, but also rewarding.

[DevonianDigger]

I hurt in places I didn't know I could hurt. Mostly it's the raging tramp stamp sunburn I got from spending so much time bent over the rocks. Today was a monster haul. I think I saw more trilobites today than in the entire last season. We've permanently altered the landscape at the site, and after the next heavy rain, there will likely be a new pond at the site as we cut down to the water table over about 150 sq. ft. (By we, I really mean @Kane, whom I've affectionately re-titled the human natural disaster.)

 

It's been a very fun weekend with good people, good times and good finds. It's a shame it has to wrap up with the final day tomorrow. Not sure how much more my body can take, but looking forward to a final hoorah with @jsnrice tomorrow to close things out.

 

Thanks so much to @drobare, @Fossildude19, @ischua, @Kane (and Deb) and @jsnrice for a great weekend and an awesome start to the PD season!

 

Pics to come as I start to move things in and clean them up.

[DevonianDigger]

45 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

Haha.  I definitely love that "pop" sound when prying and you get a good break.  But the lure of successfully excavating a complete Spinatrypa is also hard to resist   I got this one a couple years ago.  

 

That's a beauty! I have pulled a few out from back there there still have their spines, but none as complete as yours! Definitely a winner!

[Fossil-Hound]

1 hour ago, Pagurus said:

Thanks for the photos of the chain gang. 

 

The experience reminded me of the famous movie, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" haha

[Peat Burns]

6 minutes ago, DevonianDigger said:

 

That's a beauty! I have pulled a few out from back there there still have their spines, but none as complete as yours! Definitely a winner!

Thanks.

 

Looking forward to more pics from your weekend when you get your spoils cleaned up.

[Fossil-Hound]

9 minutes ago, DevonianDigger said:

I hurt in places I didn't know I could hurt. Mostly it's the raging tramp stamp sunburn I got from spending so much time bent over the rocks. Today was a monster haul. I think I saw more trilobites today than in the entire last season. We've permanently altered the landscape at the site, and after the next heavy rain, there will likely be a new pond at the site as we cut down to the water table over about 150 sq. ft. (By we, I really mean @Kane, whom I've affectionately re-titled the human natural disaster.)

 

It's been a very fun weekend with good people, good times and good finds. It's a shame it has to wrap up with the final day tomorrow. Not sure how much more my body can take, but looking forward to a final hoorah with @jsnrice tomorrow to close things out.

 

Thanks so much to @drobare, @Fossildude19, @ischua, @Kane (and Deb) and @jsnrice for a great weekend and an awesome start to the PD season!

 

Pics to come as I start to move things in and clean them up.

 

@DevonianDigger you and @Kane may have had your fun today, but tomorrow is our last great charge! So I hope you get some good sleep tonight because we are coming at those trilobites with full force and renewed vigor at the crack of dawn!   

[DevonianDigger]

Just now, jsnrice said:

 

@DevonianDigger you and @Kane may have had your fun today, but tomorrow is my our last great charge! So I hope you get some good sleep tonight because we are coming at those trilobites with full force and renewed vigor tomorrow!   

 

If there are any left, lol!

[Fossil-Hound]

@Peat Burns yes I feel spoiled and certainly lucky because we were all getting little pieces of G. boothi but no completes. There's no better feeling than cracking into a rock to see something like this come up. The Penn Dixie website claims that for every 100 E. rana that are unearthed you might find one complete G. boothi. They are rare. I'll practice on a bunch of G. boothi pygidiums before attempting to restore this one. You should see the G. boothi @Kane recovered last Thursday. It's nearly intact and unlike mine most of it is already showing and you can really see the contrast in the cephalon.

[Peat Burns]

1 minute ago, jsnrice said:

@Peat Burns yes I feel spoiled and certainly lucky because we were all getting little pieces of G. boothi but no completes. There's no better feeling than cracking into a rock to see something like this come up. The Penn Dixie website claims that for every 100 E. rana that are unearthed you might find one complete G. boothi. They are rare. I'll practice on a bunch of G. boothi pygidiums before attempting to restore this one. You should see the G. boothi @Kane recovered last Thursday. It's nearly intact and unlike mine most of it is already showing and you can really see the contrast in the cephalon.

Can't wait to see the finished products.  Greenops are such cool trilobites.

[Fossil-Hound]

@Peat Burns yes I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and @Kane and @Ludwigia have some of the finest specimens I have ever seen in their personal collection. In fact I do believe @Kane just donated a fine specimen to a preparer. These trilobites are really neat because of all the spines and the cheeks. They are certainly up there and to be completely honest I didn't even realize they were at Penn Dixie because I kept finding E. rana for the past 3 years and not a trace of G. boothi. Certainly one of the best Spring breaks of my life.