Back To The Puerco

[Wrangellian]

Here's the monthly averages for nearby Albuquerque in both F° and C°:

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-Mexico/Places/albuquerque-temperatures-by-month-average.php

...the desert be a cold place at night...

Those monthly temps are pretty close to what we get around here! (we're just wetter)

Well maybe a little cooler in the summer months but we do get highs like that sometimes..

Elevation does make a big difference

Edited January 21, 2015 by Wrangellian

[Roadrunner]

Those monthly temps are pretty close to what we get around here! (we're just wetter)

Well maybe a little cooler in the summer months but we do get highs like that sometimes..

Elevation does make a big difference

...and it isn't just the elevation. Without moisture in the air, temperatures will drop at night because there is no moisture to maintain the temperature. Elevations here range from 2,800 feet to over 13,000 feet.

When I lived on the east coast, people had a tough time believing that a 40-degree temperature swing in 24 hours could be normal.

In NM you can feel the temperature go down about the second the sun goes down, and it is a large state....the 5th largest, It has every kind of ecosystem except tropical (and associated seas). I love that you can be walking in the desert one second, turn a corner - and find a swampland around the next corner.

I've moved away from this state several times....and always end up coming back. It keeps me exploring.

We'll be back out the Puerco again soon....can't wait!

[Wrangellian]

On the other hand if there is moisture in the air, you feel the cold more (as is the case out here), and likewise the heat. I think "but it's a dry cold" could apply just as much as "it's a dry heat"!

NM seems like a fascinating place.

[PFOOLEY]

Wow, I've really been slacking on the trip reports!

Selected images of Back to the Puerco 2015! What a way to start the year ...

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Edited January 24, 2015 by PFOOLEY

[PFOOLEY]

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[PFOOLEY]

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Hoping 2015 has been good to you as well!

Happy Hunting,

P.

[JohnBrian]

Nice finds!

Beautiful scenery!

[Fossildude19]

What a great way to start off the New Year - Here is to many more finds like these in 2015.

Thanks for posting, guys!

Regards,

[JohnJ]

You can almost smell the earth and the crisp air.... Well done, Mike.

[Pilobolus]

Excellent Mike!

Like the in situ ptychodus pics; will try that next time myself.

[kauffy]

I love this thread, every photo and update! Keep em coming and thanks for sharing

[JustPlainPetrified]

Drooling over your excellent finds! Can't wait for spring to arrive in Alberta.

[amour 25]

Nice stuff indeed and so many of them.

Keep after it.

Thanks for sharing.

Jeff

[PFOOLEY]

This has definitely been a

... great way to start off the New Year....

We've had some good weather...been fortunate to hunt in such

...Beautiful scenery...

Man, that Puerco...

...once ya

...smell the earth and the crisp air....

ya never want to leave. I

... Can't wait for spring to arrive...

and am looking forward to longer days! I continue to learn from these out crops and I need more daylight to

...Keep after it...

Thanks for checkin' out

this thread, every photo and update!

Happy Hunting!

-P.

p.s. I really enjoyed taking those

... in situ ptychodus pics; will try ...

to do more of that in the future.

[PFOOLEY]

It had been a while and I was anxious to get back to the Puerco.

I headed out to the northern reaches of the Puerco to chase down some Campanian ammonites that I read could be found in the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone...

...as I wandered, unsure of what to look for, I spotted some burrows...

...I must be on the right track. I continued on to the next slope...

...trying to search out these ammonites...

[PFOOLEY]

...I spotted what looked like plant debris eroding out of this layer...

...with a little digging, sure enough, Cretaceous leaf fossils ...

...I documented the site and cruised on along the outcrop...

[PFOOLEY]

...I rounded the corner and laying there on the ground were some bits of bone...

...though thrilled about the bits, I began to question if I was in the right place...I came here to look for ammonites.

Within a few feet I saw this...

...a dinosaur vertebra with some turtle shell...

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[PFOOLEY]

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...I figured I was too high in the exposure for ammonites. I had read the Pictured Cliffs represented a gradual transition from the underlying Lewis shale (marine) to the overlying Kirtland/Fruitland (terrestrial).

I wandered down through the exposure but still had no success in my search. Understanding more research is needed, I grabbed some lunch and headed South.

I've got ammonites to find...

Edited February 24, 2015 by PFOOLEY

[PFOOLEY]

...I had been "eyeballin" this wash for some time. As I hiked closer to it, it began to look like it would produce...

...I dropped in and immediately began finding nodules containing ammonites...

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Edited February 24, 2015 by PFOOLEY

[PFOOLEY]

...I made my way up a gully to the flats on the other side. Laying on the surface was this placenticeras pseudoplacenta...

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[PFOOLEY]

...as I stepped into the next gully over, I found this prionocyclus hyatti in a nodule...

...very pleased with my day, I worked my way down the gully, gathering a few nodules to work on.

The first I split had an ammonite with an interesting vug of calcite crystals...

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[PFOOLEY]

...but the best was this nodule containing an absolutely beautiful placenticeras pseudoplacenta...

...just giddy at this point. Knowing I was going to have to return another day for some of the larger nodules as well as more thorough search, I packed up my finds.

As I went to throw on my pack and call it a day, a broken piece of nodule caught my eye...

...HOLY SMOKES! A crab ...

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[PFOOLEY]

...upon further inspection, I realized this came off of the ammonite I just packed away. I could not wait to get home and check it out.

All the way home I was thinking about this crab. Not only is it the first crab I have found in the Carlile, but to my understanding, the second ever (at least documented ) from these exposures.

How cool is that!?! One of my "all time" finds in the Puerco.

Placenticeras Pseudoplacenta and Necrocarcinus Vanstraeleni

Hope you all had "all time" adventures as well.

Happy Hunting,

P.