Scylla Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 We had a two week vacation in August and I managed to get in a quick side trip to collect some fossils. We visited San Franscico, Muir Woods, Half Moon Bay, Petrified Forrest/Painted Desert, Grand Canyon, Jerome,AZ, Zion, Bryce canyon, and a few other places in our whirlwind tour, but I insisted that I get one day to visit near Delta, UT. It was the highlight of the trip. We were staying just outside Zion and the GPS said it was a 5 hour drive to Delta. So we got the boys up and into the cars by 5:00 am and headed North. The Boys were giddy with anticipation and we didn't get a single "are we there yet?" for the whole five hour drive. Bill, the other Dad on the trip tried to use the ON-Star button in the rental car to give us turn-by turn directions, but on- star couldn't figure out where in the world U-Dig fossils was. LOL I've been to some remote places, it's good to know some still exist. After we passed Delta, where we stopped for supplies; bread, lunch meats, cheese and water, we started seeing large beach chairs in the desert. They were scattered about in a seemingly random array and we later figured out they were part of a cosmic ray observatory. We had been trailed by storm clouds for several days since Albuquerque where we had made a left turn. This morning we were grateful for those clouds since the dirt roads had the perfect amount of recent rainfall, no mud, but no dust either. I don't get much of a chance to drive dirt roads here in New York, and certainly not with miles of visibility ahead so when I looked down at the speedometer I was surprised at seeing 70. I was slightly more surprised when I looked up and saw the dip in the road. But after an uneventful, if exciting, landing we made it to the quarry, thanks in no small part to the excellent directional signs on the road. It was 10:00 and we were due back at the cabins for dinner so we speedily got to work. Bevin was working the quarry that day, and I must say even if we didn't collect, it was worth the drive to meet him. His enthusiasm for fossils and his knowledge were both contagious. I often came back to the shed with a chunk of shale bearing some indistinguishable smudge and he would not only identify it almost instantly, but flip to a photo in a book to show me an identical smudge. If you are considering a visit to this site, I have to warn you. #1 you do not have to take your own tools. They provide hammers with the chisel backs that work well. I would bring my own foil and crazy glue next time, and my tile-cutting hacksaw came in handy for trimming some pieces but that's about all you need. #2 be prepared for heartbreak on the scale of losing your first girlfriend; we had to leave at least half the fossils we found behind due to space/weight constraints. If my parents hadn't driven out from So Cal to meet us at the Grand Canyon the carnage would have been far worse, but my Father agreed to transport our booty home and flat-rate ship it out to us after packing it safely. (Thanks Dad) #3 keep your fossils in the bucket. Joseph created a pile of trilobites near where he was collecting so he wouldn't have to carry the bucket around and lost his pile. I think they walked away. He still came away with an epic haul though. #4 wear a hard hat. Not for the quarry, but the shade structure by the picnic tables is low enough that a 5'6" man can hit his head on it 6 times %^$#%@! Ya, that was me. I never made it more than 50 yards from the shed because the shale was producing fossils everywhere. We found plenty of Elrathia Kingi, Asaphiscus Wheeleri, and Peronopsis Interstricta. We also found some Algae, tiny Brachiopods, and at least one Annelid worm (I think). By about 3:00 I was done. Toast. Tired. Ready to pack it in. Bill asked me to help him extract one last Trilobite from a large block as I passed him on the way to the car. He had the head from an E. Kingi that was about 1-1/2 inches long and the body was stuck in a block of shale about 2x3x1-1/2 feet in size. OK but as I was splitting the block down to a more manageable size I found the find of the day. A possible Olenoides Nevadensis! Special thanks to Bevin for his expert power-saw work rendering the boulder manageable without damaging this special bug. Anyone with suggestions for professional trilobite preppers? I'll post some pics of the fossils soon. After the hour long ordeal of deciding who comes home and who stays under the picnic table, we high tailed it out to get back to the wives and sisters. I-15 was the better way to go with the posted speed limit at 80 MPH and the bonus drive through Zion canyon on the way to the cabins. Whew! That was a good day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Sounds like you had an amazing time. It's always healing to see open skies and lots of rock to hunt. Looking forward to the photos and thanks for an interesting report. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 "Amazing time" seems about right! Thanks for making it feel like I was there "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...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I took my kid there in July...glad y'all had fun...I could spend a couple days there. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Sounds like you had an amazing time. It's always healing to see open skies and lots of rock to hunt. Looking forward to the photos and thanks for an interesting report. Thanks for reading it More pics coming as I get them cropped to the right size. I didn't take any of the site, really since the fossil hunting was the main thrust. The U-dig website has a gallery that really shows the site. "Amazing time" seems about right! Thanks for making it feel like I was there Amazing is right! I took my kid there in July...glad y'all had fun...I could spend a couple days there. Me too! I'll bet our kids would really hit it off, not too many can tell their Asaphiscus from their Peronopsis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Congrats on a great trip! Can you please post a clear image of this trilobite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Congrats on a great trip! Can you please post a clear image of this trilobite? Ouch! This is the best photo I have. There is a thin shell of matrix over most of it and I have the counterpart as well. They are wrapped up tight until I get them prepped. I'll try to clean up the other pic I have of it. I was hoping you would chime in with advice on how best to preserve/protect/prep it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 If you have an Olenoides then my suggestion is to let a highly skilled preparator work on it. Ideally, the part and counterpart can be glued together nicely allowing the trilobite to be extracted top down by air-abrasion. Hopefully it will be preserved entirely with all of its cuticle and exoskeleton intact. Anyone that can perform the work will want a good photo as well so perhaps you should unpack it and take a new photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) OK, I'll get out the good camera then... Edit: Bevan suggested exactly what you did about getting it professionally done by gluing back the pieces and going top - down. Who would you trust to do this? Edited September 11, 2013 by Scylla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Gus, Gerry Kloc would be an excellent choice. Also, Marc Behrendt is excellent as well. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 OK, I'll get out the good camera then... Edit: Bevan suggested exactly what you did about getting it professionally done by gluing back the pieces and going top - down. Who would you trust to do this? There are a lot of skilled preparators but if you want the most experienced hand at Olenoides prep then Dave Comfort is the best of the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Thanks, I managed to snap some pics before sunset but had to go back to work for a couple of hours, but here they are: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 and counterpart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Grant going through 2/3 of what he kept (which is 1/2 of what he found) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Elrathia Kingi An Algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 The Olenoides should be a bell ringer after prep! Congrats on a trophy trilobite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 More E. Kingi, some square dancing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 There are a lot of skilled preparators but if you want the most experienced hand at Olenoides prep then Dave Comfort is the best of the best. I agree with Scott the person I know of who does alot of these Cambrian bugs by putting them back together is Dave. That in fact is the type of material I haved seen come from him time and time again! Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 yes you have both parts, the spines are clearly in the counterpart. You can see my specimen of O. nevadensis is my avatar. I can see the bases on the positive and the spines clearly going into the negative counterpart. That bug is gonna be a killer when put back together and prepped! Dave is you man in this area, but of course both Gerry and Marc do good work on bugs also. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 (edited) Thanks Russ! By the way, anyone wants to correct any ID's, feel free! Here are a couple of Asaphiscus Wheeleri pygidiums: and the undersides of a couple of E. Kingi Edited September 12, 2013 by Scylla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 a small death assemblage A A. Wheeleri head and tail. The little one second from right might be a different trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 I'm sure everyone is getting tired of trilobite pics by now, so lets try these: A 1cm annelid? I can see segments but it is hard to photograph them, this is with my cell phone camera and a hand loupe. and adjacent to it is a ???trilobite larva??? I've found two of these so far, but they are hard to photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgcox Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 (edited) Nice trip report we spent two full days at u-dig in April of this year and I agree Bevan and Holly are awesome. We plan to spend a week in the Delta area next spring. I am attaching a couple of pics of my Olenoides phygidium- did not find the other half. Edited September 12, 2013 by jgcox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Fantastic report, I was with you the whole way reliving my visit out there. Gotta spend more than one day as there are so many prospects to explore out there. One produces red colored trilobites and others are know for having other species more common than Elrathia and Asaphiscus. Congrats on the rare find, the cleaned specimen will most certainly win FOTM, in my opinion. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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