So... what did you do this summer?
I figure I better blog about this now before it got too late.
Without question or contest, one of the most unexpectedly rewarding events of the summer of 2007 was participating in a genuine fossil dig. Here's the story:
Nate Korynta, a recently graduated Rocker, invited my family and I to join him on a fossil dig that he had been in on for years. He even offered to cover the cost of the dig! A free opportunity to excavate dinosaur fossils... how could I say no to that?!
So Wayne, Nina, Rex and I packed our tent and our bags and headed NW to Lemmon SD. We even picked up another kid, Joe, whom Nate recruited.
The camp site was at a ranch out in the middle of the open country. The scenery was fantastic! On our first night there we were treated to an electric light show in a monstrous thunderhead. In fact, everything in this area was bigger than life... especially the dinosaur dig site.
Russ McGlenn had been leading these Adventure Safaris dinosaur digs for something like 16 years. They are designed for laymen whether they be a college student or a family of youngin's. Every day he gave at least 2 creation oriented lectures complete with powerpoint.
On the first day, though, he gave a tutorial on how to excavate dinosaur bones, and we immediately went to the fossil dig site. We had to take a trail down the side of an outcrop to a fossil graveyard in the Hell Creek Formation. We marked off our grid. Claimed our spot. And started digging.
I think it's a geologist's trade secret that all rock formations are... well... hard as rock. They aren't. This extensive dinosaur fossil rich formation is composed of clays and bentonite. We could dig out dinosaur bones with a simple geologist hammer and a screwdriver. And that is exactly what we did!
Every day my kids and I uncovered new dinosaur bones. They all belonged to a duckbilled dinosaur called an Edmontosaurus. Check out all the pics to see what we uncovered! It was a blast!
I am already planning on going again next year and taking my entire family. For me, this trip was a childhood dream come true and I can't wait to do it again.