Dinosaur Dig - Final Thoughts

When I was graduating high school people would write a bunch of phrases that summed up our time together in each others yearbook.
I thought that would be a good way to end this series hopefully it is not too esoteric.

“Look a Rainbow”, Bald eagle sightings, “People on boats always seem to wave’, “Is this Rock”, “Derek here is your ipod back”, “Is this Bone”, Car ride chat’s, the leaning Shacks, “What camera do you have?” Rhubarb Crumble. End of the Day Beer
“Bert – He has had a lot of jobs”, “What’s in the beer…Is that trail Mix”, Pear Pilsner, Trail mix Lager. Who wants Coffee, Tim Horton’s , "There not munchkins there Tim Bits", "Damn!..Can I have the Vinac", Lunch time. “When you get a chance can you map this”, “Stomp!” Bill Cosby Impressions, “Dino Bots move out”.

Thanks to Phillip, Eva, Michael, Derek, Robin, Steve, Bill, Jerry, TJ, and everyone else for a Great and memorable time.

Dinosaur Dig

Dinosaur Dig - Day 6 (Final Dig Day)

Today we started out the day at Pipestone creek dig site this was the coldest day so far with the temperature around the mid 50’s. There was a Canadian morning news show on site they were interviewing Dr. Currie and some other folks involved with the Pipestone Creek dinosaur Museum. Today the Site consists of a visitors center where there are some bones on display, and a complete Pachyrhinosaurus. The Pipestone Creek bone bed is where Dr. Currie and his team excavated some 20 or so Pachyrhinosaurus specimens from these bones they were able to piece together complete models of the dinosaur.
The plan is to build a museum on this site there is a trail with dinosaur markers that lead the way to a dry river bed we follow that till wee get to the bone bed. The TV crew conducts some interviews while we look around for surface fossils. Jerry finds one pretty quick it is a vertebra. Jerry has gotten really good at identifying bone and has made some excellent finds on the dig. He is a really nice guy and has given me some Canadian money to bring back home for my daughter as a souvenir. After Pipestone Creek we set out back to the Wapiti Site. We have brought some guest with us. The owners of property by the Red Willow River site. They have a history with Dr. Currie and used to bring lemonade and treats down to the dig team, and have hosted BBQ’s for them in the past they will have one tomorrow night unfortunately this is my last day here so I will miss it.
They come to the site with their two daughters the youngest who I would guess was around 11 or 12 deftly makes her way down the hillside. We get to the site close to 12:00 so we setup and then break for lunch. After lunch I set out down the hillside below the bone bed to retrieve my bone that fell the other day. Michael belays me down the hillside I find the bone still wrapped and undamaged close to the bottom of the hill. The climb is a fun diversion that warms me up. A little while later Bert shows up on a jet boat with some folks from the Company that has donated the money that will be used to hire the helicopter. They look around check out the site and chat with each of us to see what we are uncovering then make their way back down to the river where the look for surface fossils. I am digging in the mud AKA Wapati Gumbo it is slow process each piece must be rinsed and inspected to determine if it rock or bone. I spend most of the afternoon just finding rock and some small fragments. Then close to cleanup I find two specimens that are collected one that is in a concretion and looks like it might be a limb end. The other is a tiny tail bone from a juvenile; Derek seems rather excited about this one. There are some clouds moving in and it starts to rain although the sky looks pretty ominous it is just a passing shower Nonetheless we do some final mapping and I cleanup it is almost 5:00 and I want to have everything either collected or cleared out for the next person.
Tonight for Dinner we are having a BBQ. Bert who seems to be an avid hunter has brought us some Moose steaks and Venison petite filets that he has hunted and prepared.
Eva has made a broccoli and cheddar quiche afterward we have ice cream and some more Rhubarb crumble. I am sitting at the table with Dr. Currie and I fire off a bunch of questions about Paleontology, Evolution, and Site excavation. Philip, Eva, Michael, Derek, and Robin have all provided us with a great learning experience the team has been generous with information and very gracious hosts.

Dinosaur Dig

Philip and Eva have books about dinosaurs that are great for Kids and Adults alike these can be found at: http://www.troodonproductions.com/

Dinosaur Dig - Day 5

Today the weather was really great it started out a little cool but warmed up nice by lunch. On the way to our Usual dig Site we stopped at another Dig site on the Red Willow River. This is where Dr Currie and his team had excavated a Juvenile Hadrosaur.
Afterwards we went to our usual site on the Wapiti River and continued to dig in our areas. Today I found quite few Fossils that were tagged and collected. I finished excavating large pieces of bone that may be a part of the Pachyrhinosaurus leg. I also uncovered some bone in a concretion that may be a skull or limb end. Michael finished preparations on the Skull and Robin has uncovered an area with about 8 or so large bone pieces. She has been a big help since Bill left, answering my reoccurring question "is this bone or rock" helping me to uncover bones, and glue bones that have broken. Jerry has found 2 tyrannosaur teeth and a large section of rib that we casted today along with the Parietal bone that Dr. Currie has been excavating and my section of leg bone. While taping down the underside of the cast later and adding 2 bone fragments that may be part of the leg section.
In the afternoon we get a visit from Bert and Kat who drop off the net for the helicopter pickup and take pictures of the crew.
During Cleanup I accidentally lost a piece of bone it fell downthe hillside. Fortunately it is wrapped in paper towel and duct tape so I should be able to retrieve it tomorrow.

It is a little after 5:00 so we hike out of the valley back to the cars and drive back to the dorms. During the ride we are listening to classic Jazz on sirius radio interspersed with some conversation I am tireed and fall asleep listening to Coltrane play My Favorite Things. For dinner we have soft tacos (one of my favorites) and rhubarb crumble for desert
Eva gave a talk tonight on palynology and what she has researched at the Canadian dig sites. While listening to the talk and presentation I realize there are other things in the rock to look for such as plant fossils and organic matter a whole other but very related discipline. After the talk Jerry and I go with the students to check out the Pachyrhinosarus on display at the College. While looking at the model you can see the bones that we have been collecting and where they might fit in the dinosaur it helps to see a completed model of what we have been collecting in bits and pieces. Tomorrow is my last day of digging we are going to visit the Pipestone Creek dig site before going to the Wapiti Location. So much to see in do in a short time this has been a great learning experience I will miss doing it. It has been hard work but very enjoyable at the same time.

Dinosaur Dig

Dinosaur Dig - Day 4

No rain today but it was much cooler and windy which can be a little scary when a gust hits you while you are walking on the edge of the bone bed above a pretty steep and very long drop down to the bottom of the Valley. We drove out to the site in one truck today Since 2 members have left: Bill and TJ (TJ had something come up where he needed to leave) and Eva stayed behind to run some errands and do some other work. The ride out was much quieter and I missed our morning conversation. As I have said before Eva is really nice and is great engaging everyone in conversation. Today was really productive I found numerous fragments and four items were collected.
After Lunch Jerry and I helped place a cast, called a jacket on the skull of the Pachyrhinosaurs. First we wrapped the skull in wet paper towels. (I make a joke about how they should get sponsorship from Bounty - Something like: Bounty preferred by Palaeontologists worldwide) after that we mix a batch of plaster of paris then we dip strips of burlap into the plaster and wrap the skull with the plaster soaked burlap. This Jacket will protect the Skull when it is transported by helicopter out of the valley. The ride home is pretty quiet except for some music provided by Robin's ipod so I get a few much needed Z's.

Eva made dinner tonight we had pork tenderloin, basmati rice, and salad. all of the meals have been really enjoyable. for Breakfast we usually have cereal or oatmeal, for lunch we bring sandwiches, snacks, and some fruit. When we stop for lunch I eat and talk a little bit with whoever is working by area; today it is Robin, but mostly I take in breathtaking scenery of the Valley.
After dinner the students (Robin, Michael, and Derek) gave talks about there Masters Projects.

Robin and Michael are both doing projects on Ankylosaurs and Derek Project is on microsites (Sites that consist of small fragments) Their presentations are informative and provide a little more insight into what palaeontologist do with the bones they find and the questions they are trying to find answers to.

Dinosaur Dig - Day 3

Today was a little rainy and colder it is Bill's last day with us on the dig site he will be driving back home to Idaho stopping at some of the Dinosaur museums in Canada and Montana along the way. Today's digging did not yield to much for me just some fragments that were mapped and discarded however at the end of the day I came across a big mass of bone which I will start to uncover tomorrow.





Jerry uncovered a large rib today which will be collected and the team is making preparations to have four large Pachyarhinosaurus skulls airlifted out by helicopter they will weigh in total over 1500 lbs. I am learning more each day about how to dig and so much about the Dinosaurs of Canada.

Dr. Currie has given a talk tonight and even though an announcement about the talk went out only a short time ago the auditorium is almost full.

The talk is about the Dinosaurs of Canada, where they are found, and the museums that have them on exhibit. Digging for bones seems to be a local pastime in Grand Prairie with a lot of amateur paleontologists one man as come with an articulated vertebra but upon closer examination it appears that this is a mummified specimen showing the pattern of the skin.

Afterward most of the group goes to look at the Pachyrhinosaurs Skeleton on display at the college. I have gone back to go to my room but instead stop in and visit Eva we have a cup a tea and a nice chat she is very nice and a palaeobotanist. Eva will give a talk on Thursday evening.

After a while every one comes back and they are excited about the mummified Specimen.

Dinosaur Dig

Dinosaur Dig - Day One cont. and Day 2

When I arrived from Toronto in Edmonton the flight was delayed due to thunderstorms.
So I got something to eat. While I was waiting Eva came down to get me from the lounge I went up and met Phillip and another Grad Student named Steve from Phoneix everybody was really friendly and we got to know each over a drink while we waited for our filght to Grand Prairie. When we arrived at Grand Praire we drove to the college and we were greated with a special treat even though it was after 9:00 the sun was still out and there was a double rainbow (ne arching the outside of the other). We also met the other members of the team Michael and Derek, and Robin who are students of Dr. Currie Bill who has been my mentor for the last 2 days and Jim a recently retired BP employee. Our dorm rooms are really great pretty much they are like town houses and are a pleasant surprise.

Day2: The 1st day at the dig Site.
We all got together for breakfast this morning followed by a meeting where Philip and Eva gave a safety talk and explained what we should expect for the day. We received our dig kits which consisted of a Small Hammer some brushes an Awl, safety goggles, Gloves, and some dental tools for the finer work.
We drove out to the site entrance about 30 min from the school but the actual quarry is a 2 km hike from there, most of which was down some pretty steep loose cliffs. We make our way down using ropes so if we loose our footing we dont go tumbling down the side of the Mountain.


The quarry (dig site) is marked off every meter and the bed is about 7 or 8 meters. When we find a fossil it is mapped using a homemade grid that is made up of a 10X10cm squares the fossil location and orientation is then scetched on a paper grid for later reference. Everything is mapped, if the dinosaur that the fossil came from can be identified then they are tagged as well and brought back for later prep and study. I found numerous fossils fragments today but only one was tagged (a jawbone). If a fossil is too small to determine what it is from then the fossil is mapped and removed from the quarry. We dug till lunch with everyone finding some fossils including some troodon teeth.
After lunch we dug some more I put my fossil in a cast for transport out of the field at the end of the day.

Dinosaur Dig

Dinosaur Dig - Day One

Today is a travel day and I am in Toronto waiting for my connecting flight to Edmonton and then onto Grand Prairie.
I was able to take some pics from the plane of Niagara Falls and the Space Needle Kinda cool except the Falls look small from up here. Definitely a place to go for a road trip in a year or so when Z-girl is a little older and 6 or so hours in the car is doable. Tonight I will meet Phillip and Eva and see what I will be calling home for the next week I am excited and also a little sad to be without the family for the week but I am hopeful that the experience will be a worthwhile and memorable one. That’s it for now, tomorrow we dig for the bones of creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago. I wonder why so many people put so much time in effort into discovering and researching dinosaurs. Is it to discover why and how they became extinct and somehow better understand our current environment or is it because Dinosaurs have always had some magical quality to them and as children we are drawn to discovering as much as we can about them. Their size alone makes them awesome yet these creatures have been the most successful living things on earth and then they were gone in a very short time.
Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for 165 million years, by comparison we have only existed for about 200,000 Years.

Check out Pictures from this trip:

Dinosaur Dig