jbswake Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Thought I would share with you one of the locations we go to for Eocene age fish. This is the vehicle you need. This was from the summer of 2006. It is not a road for the feint of heart, and is quite exciting when it is damp or raining as the road bed turns to gumbo as it is composed of a bentonite like clay.The fish are Eohiodons, 51MYBP. It is unclear if it is part of the McAbee beds located several kilometeres to the southwest of this location, which is on the north side of Kamloops Lake. I love the drive to this site as much as I enjoy finding the fossils here. It is 17km of bumpy muddy quickly changing road conditions. There is also a chance of running into the large herd of Big Horn sheep somewhere along the road. The fish are larger than those found at Mcabee and are very frustrating to locate complete specimens. "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbswake Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) So now you know I am a fossil nut because that is my licence plate, a gift from my wife one Christmas. Now we are surrounded by snow with more expected tomorrow, it is difficult to get to any of our local sites. Here is the type of fish found there. The problem with these fossils is the matrix they are found in. They are the same layers as you find at McAbee and and other local Eocene sites, but it seems these plates were close to the surface when the pillow basalt flowed over them about 35 to 40 MYBP. It makes the strata very hard to split nicely because it also has the unfortunate habit of breaking through the factures in the matrix that run across the layers. About the only way to find a complete one is to find a plate with part of a fish showing. That you take home and prep out with finer tools so it does not fracture on you. Edited January 24, 2012 by jbswake "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbswake Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Last summer I ran into the large herd of Big Horn. This is the herd they collect members from to repopulate the Californian population. It is also home to cactus, black widow spiders, rattlers, bears, coyotes, white tail, mule deer, and cougar. "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbswake Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 I thought I would also include a picture or 2 of the black widows from our region. They love to sun their egg sacks during the day, especially when it gets to be 40C. The cactus is the prickly pear and you normally find it when you are not looking for it. Tough to get the tiny barbed points out. And if you sit on it - have a very very good friend! I am hopeful to get out this weekend. If I do, I will take my camera along and show the difference in our environment between than and now: John "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Thanks for the tour of your backyard. Beautiful country! I'm surprised at the desert-like flora and fauna you have there. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sward Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 John, Thanks for the guided tour. I love the location pics. It looks like it's a wonderful place to hunt. Oh, and the fossil fish pic is outstanding. SWardSoutheast Missouri (formerly Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX) USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) South-central BC has the only desert in Canada. I think it is also some of the northernmost, but I may be wrong, if maybe Mongolia or Kazakhstan have some at this same latidude. Thanks John for posting this... I had read (I think somewhere on the Forum - maybe it was you? or maybe it was 'FossilDAWG' Don) that there are other, better sites near McAbee that people don't generally know about. I wonder if this is one of them. Edited January 24, 2012 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbswake Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Wrangellian is right. Kamloops and environs have a semi-arid climate. Way too much snow to be a desert. However, if you look up the city of Osoyoos, several hours (because of lack of direct paved roads) drive southwest to us, you'll see that they have and are the only true desert in Canada. It is the most northern exposure of California's Sonoran. There are small pockets of the same kind of climate spotted all around our area. I wouldn't ever say that there are better sites in the area better than McAbee. Howver, there are 11 other exposures of the same lakebed in the immediate area. This particular site is on the north side of Kamloops Lake. Nobody has tied it directly to the same McAbee beds. There are two distinct exposures of this formation in the same gully. I love going there and I love taking people there as long as I get to drive and passengers only let out wallops of delight and positives. Speed doesn't kill, I kill speed! Make a plan with me and I'll take any FF member with me one day: John John "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeopix Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Oh man, another spot I've got to check out! I'd love to go on a bumpy backroad fossil adventure! I guess we will see what happens this spring/summer John! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Looks nice up there, and some great fossils no doubt. But way to cold for me. I Like it down south, we can hunt all year long. 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 May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbswake Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Looks nice up there, and some great fossils no doubt. But way to cold for me. I Like it down south, we can hunt all year long. Just wait until summer! We go to about 90F to 110F in August. Unfortunately, we enjoy 4 seasons. The snow season here is where we get a chance to prep because we collect so much through out short summer season! You just have to wait out the tick season in the spring, the rattler season in the summer, the rain and wind in the fall, and the snow on the winter. That is what it is to live in this area. I don't particularly like the winter myself, I tend to hibernate, but the summers here cook. And I like cooking. Fossiling when the weather is over 100F and the rocks are so hot that you need gloves to pick them up is my scene. You have to come here to experience the diversified weather extremes we have here. I wouldn't really live anywhere else now, but my wife may have some other plans and we all know who the boss is!!! "Blimey! Would you look at the size of that!"McAbee is the other woman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Man, I'd be happy just to drive through that area... fossil fish would just be added joy. That herd of Bighorn Sheep is pretty impressive, I've certainly never seen that many in one place before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Good topic, John; the tidbit on the lithography (pillow-basalt baking) alone was enlightening; the rest is frosting on the cake . Thanks! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'd love to drive through there too. Hey JB--have you ever seen a cougar? And what kind of bear have you seen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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