Mammoth Site Dig - Waco, Tx

[sward]

My hunting partner and I visited the Mammoth dig site in Waco, Tx on 09Aug2011.

We first visited the Waco pit (see earlier post). We spent about three hours there, but decided it was time to leave when the temp was 100+ and we ran out of water.

The air conditioned building of the dig site was a welcome relief.

BRGDS

sward

DFW, TX

[steve p.]

There's no drinking fountains at the site? I will remember to take some Ozarka.

All kidding aside, You're lucky. I've always wanted to visit the Waco site since I first heard about it. La Brea Tar Pits is another...

Ice Age megafauna is so cool, and geologically so close in time, we can "taste" it.

Speaking of Mammoths, wikipedia says there are an estimated 150 million(!) Mammoth remains in the Siberian permafrost today. Anyone up for some fossil hunting there. (Might be a change from the heat in the Lone Star state.)

Steve.

[sward]

Steve,

We found several springs on one side of the pit. The water was nice and cold but we were a little afraid to try refilling our camelbaks from the springs. We did splash some of the water on us to help cool down though.

BRGDS,

sward

[steve p.]

Good idea to avoid untreated water.

I know someone who drank untreated water and it was two years before they fully recovered from the parasite.

What was the fossil matrix like there? Sandy soil?

Glad you had a good time and I look forward to my trip there.

Steve.

[sward]

Steve,

We only made it about a quarter, maybe a third, of the way around the pit. It's large.

The entire pit is surrounded by large outcroppings. We had the most luck at the base of the outcrops.

With it being so dry around here, the surface was pretty much like a dried-up lake bed. I'm attaching a couple of photos showing the surface.

[steve p.]

Steve,

We only made it about a quarter, maybe a third, of the way around the pit. It's large.

The entire pit is surrounded by large outcroppings. We had the most luck at the base of the outcrops.

With it being so dry around here, the surface was pretty much like a dried-up lake bed. I'm attaching a couple of photos showing the surface.

Great pics! I think "in situ" photos are so helpful. Triple digit temps are pretty much a fun killer. I carry a daypack with 2-4 liters of water. Even then, you are still driven back to the car.

When I drive up Highway 6 from Houston to N. Texas, I watch for outcroppings like an eagle. They are rare. I seem to recall the Waco area as having some faintly visible stone in grassy roadcuts. (And before there, lots of red dirt. Must be iron oxide stained quartz sand) I need to find out where that site is. Public, I assume? At least there is one good thing about our drought: easy hunting, and I guess no bugs.

[tracer]

last i knew, the waco pit is controlled by the corps of engineers and you have to get a permit from them to go in, and the permits have stipulations regarding what you're there for and what you can and can't do with the things you find. and their rangers do patrol it. the "matrix" there isn't a sandy soil. it's more like a hardened clayey shale sort of stuff.

[MikeD]

Steve, search the Hunting Trips section for Waco. You will see the other goodies a lot of us have found.

I am waiting until after the first hard freeze before going back in. It knocks down a lot of the vegetation, especially the poison ivy.