Once again we met in Paris. A short drive and a short, steep hike down into a gulch and we were happy! For this was an exposure of Cambrian Spence Shale. We hoped for trilobites and hyoliths. Hyoliths were new to many of us, I think!
Here is an iphone panorama shot of the exposure:
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| Spence Shale |
The picture is a little odd since I was standing so close to the subject. You can see that there was plenty of room for fossil hunters...
We did find the expected fossils. There were some exceptional finds, of whole trilobites and of what is likely
Eocrinoidea!
I just have to share with you a picture of someone I admire, look up to, want to be like. Not only did she find some of the best whole trilobites, but she is an octogenarian!!!
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| Ann, my hero |
Ann didn't want to stop digging here but we had another site to go to. So, she packed up her backpack and bucket of fossils and climbed out of the gulch just like the rest of us.
The final site of the day was a return to the east shore of Bear Lake. We'd been shut out before by the rain and hail storm. This afternoon was beautiful; perfect for hunting Pleistocene bivalves and gastropods.
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| East shore, Bear Lake |
The following morning, many of the trip participants had plans - DMNS Field School in Escalante, Yellowstone, head back to work... A few of us were able to make one more stop, not far from Kemmerer, WY. This stop was Eocene, and yielded agatized Elimia tenera.
It was a great trip and I am grateful to WIPS and the field trip leaders Joe Dabelko and Dennis Gertenbach for putting this together.
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