Delta, Utah
Dates: May 14 - May 18, 2008
Trip Leader: Dick Boucher
(303) 289-3369
The group will meet in front of the West Desert Collectors, 298 W. Main Street in Delta at 9 a.m. on May 14.
We will go to approx. five locations, conditions permitting, including the pay to dig quarry.
Camping is available in the area, especially at Marjum Pass and the Little Drum Mountains, but we will not be far from Delta at any time ( 1-2 hours at extreme most). Antelope Valley RV Park
There are several motels in the town, most of which are fine along with small cafes and restaurants and a medium sized grocery store.
There will be a lot of short hikes in some rough areas and some steep hills we must climb. We are going early to avoid the extreme heat of the area in summer.
Lots of water is required, along with good hiking boots and clothes. A four wheel drive vehicle is required. I will have basic maps and a booklet handout for everybody who goes.
Everybody will find good stuff! The fossils are mostly mid- Cambrian, many types of trilobites, some sponges, algae, brachiopods, annelid worms, possibly eocrinoids and a few other odd fossil sea animals. Some of the formations have wonderful dendrites.
Suggested reading: Brigham Young University Geology Studies, Vol. 28, Part One, Some Middle Cambrian Fossils of Utah,Lloyd and Val Gunther, Cost–approx. $15.
Baculite Mesa (near Pueblo, CO)
Date: May 24th
Trip Leader: Malcolm W. Bedell, Jr.
Permission has once again been secured for WIPS to conduct its annual field trip to Baculite Mesa, this the 18th year. This popular trip gives members an opportunity to collect in the Late Cretaceous Pierre shale. Beautiful fossils of ammonites, various clams, a crab, scaphopods, trace fossils and even a sand dollar have been found in years past. The locations span a large area, and not all sites connected. Access by four-wheel drive vehicles is often needed.
Members can keep any invertebrate fossils they find, however, photographing of specimens for information sharing and donation of extraordinary specimens to a suitable repository, or at least examination by those who are capable of scientific analysis, is strongly encouraged. Publications, with the names of WIPS discoverers included, and even named species, have occasionally resulted from these trips.
Physical Requirements: Moderate to strenuous hiking in open country. Hiking boot terrain. A letter detailing other requirements, directions, etc. is sent to participants.
Limited to 30 people
McCoy
Dates: June 7 - June 8, 2008
Trip Leader: Jordan Sawdo
(303) 452-7792
This is a rare opportunity to collect Paleozoic (Pennsylvanian) marine fossils, including brachiopods, an abundance of crinoids, limited trilobites and shark’s teeth, and world-class trace fossils. This is a great two-day trip for all ages in lovely, open high country north of Vail.
You will also follow the Colorado River to Dotsero and its Devonian fossils. Don't miss this opportunity as we may not be able to repeat it for some time.
Physical requirements: Easy to moderately difficult.Participants can choose their preference in terrain.
Equipment beyond the basics: Camping necessities unless you choose to stay in a motel in nearby Eagle.
Douglas Pass
Dates: June 28, 2008
Trip Leader: Michael Graham
Visit the world-famous Green River Formation northwest of Grand Junction to collect beautifully preserved Eocene invertebrate and plant fossils. Collecting is done under WIPS’ permit with the BLM, and scientifically significant specimens will be doanted to the DMNS. Many specimens from this project have become part of the online Green River Paleobotany Project at the museum.
Limited to 10 people
Garden Park
Dates: July 19 - July 26, 2008
Trip Leader: Virginia Tidwell
(303) 370-8278
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, in cooperation with the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS) will continue the excavation of a sauropod dinosaur from a quarry originally worked by the DMNS in 1992. A partial skeleton was recovered in 1992, but the rest was left for future recovery efforts. This year we return July 19 - July 26 to continue the work.
The dig site lies just north of Canon City, Colorado, in historic Garden Park, site of some of the hottest rivalries between O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope in the late 1800's. There is also the opportunity to tour some of the historic dinosaur quarries excavated for Cope and Marsh. These sites include the type localities for Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, and Haplocanthosaurus. There may also be time to prospect other sections of Garden Park, looking for new fossils that might be eroding out of the Morrison Formation.
Accommodations are 'BYOT' (bring your own tent). Camping trailers are welcome, although the narrow, winding road into Garden Park limits the length to under 15 ft. (pop-up campers work great!). Non campers can stay at a Canon City motel, and drive the 10 miles to the dig site each day.
Participants can sign up for the whole dig, or just drop in for a couple of days of dino digging. Each participant is asked to help out with either camp set-up or striking the site/camp. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, in cooperation with the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS) will continue the excavation of a sauropod dinosaur from a quarry originally worked by the DMNS in 1992. A partial skeleton was recovered in 1992, but the rest was left for future recovery efforts. This year we return July 19 - July 26 to continue the work. The dig site lies just north of Canon City, Colorado, in historic Garden Park, site of some of the hottest rivalries between O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope in the late 1800's. There is also the opportunity to tour some of the historic dinosaur quarries excavated for Cope and Marsh. These sites include the type localities for Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Haplocanthosaurus. There may also be time to prospect other sections of Garden Park, looking for new fossils that might be eroding out of the Morrison Formation.
Accommodations are 'BYOT' (bring your own tent). Camping trailers are welcome, although the narrow, winding road into Garden Park limits the length to under 15 ft. (popup campers work great!). Non-campers can stay at a Canon City motel, and drive the 5 miles to the dig site each day. Participants can sign up for the whole dig, or just drop in for a couple of days of dino digging. Each participant is asked to help out with either camp setup or striking the site/camp. This dig is restricted to those 16 years old or older. Cost: WIPS field trip fee plus $10 per day, which covers food, water and sanitation facilities. These will be supplied by WIPS/DMNS.
For more information, contact Virginia Tidwell 303-370-8278 ; vtidwell@dmns.org
Limited to 20 people
Tepee Buttes
Date: September 6, 2008 *** Date changed from Sept 13th
Trip Leader: Dennis Gertenbach
The Tepee Buttes are unusual features that can be found in the Pierre Shale from Pueblo traversing northeast through Colorado. During the Cretaceous period when eastern Colorado was covered by the Western Interior Seaway, a series of methane gas vents developed on the ocean floor. The methane gas provided nutrients for reef colonies to form around the vents. The reefs provided food and shelter for a wide range of animals, including bivalves, ammonites, baculites, gastropods, and other invertebrates. The clam Nymphalucina occidentalis is only found on the Tepee Buttes, where they are quite plentiful.
This trip involves easy hiking and is suitable for children when accompanied by an adult.
Limited to 30 people
Comanche National Grassland
Dates: September 20 - September 21, 2008
Trip Leader: Steve Miller
The WIP Comanche National Grassland Cretaceous Survey is a Field Opportunity where members search for and document fossils for the US Forest Service in southeastern Colorado. These are the goals for the Field Opportunity:
* Enable WIPS members to locate and collect fossils in the Comanche National Grassland.
* Provide documentation of fossil finds to the US Forest Service.
* Locate and document fossils of scientific significance.
This year we return to the rimrock of Picketwire and Withers Canyons to continue searching for significant tracks (ichnofossils). Other fossils can be found in this area based on information presented at the morning briefing. A new area is planned to be added for survey, giving us excellent opportunities to survey the Fort Hays limestone and the top of the Colorado Group. Other areas may be included if there is interest.
WIPS members are organized into small teams. Each team is led by an experienced WIPS member and given specific areas to review and document. Because this is a Field Opportunity, there are requirements for measurements, documentation, and imagery. Because of the nature of the locations and the requirements for documentation, participants must be at least 16 years old. Specimens collected must be documented according to the Field Guide. Participant reports describing specimens and locales are used to create a final review of the survey for the US Forest Service.
The weekend survey activities begin at 9:00am Saturday morning with a briefing on the areas to be surveyed. Saturday will be structured for detailed and serious observations and collecting. Sundays will structured be for more casual observation, scouting and collecting. Saturday evening get-together and dinner is planned.
Limited to 25 people
FS Dino Quarry
Thermopolis, Wyoming
Dates: Approx. June-September
Trip Leader: Malcolm W. Bedell, Jr.
(303) 663-7119
Why spend all that gas money to go to Thermopolis? There really isn’t anything resembling a good reason. Just ask previous volunteers. Hard work for free in Southern Big Horn heat, monsoonal rainstorms (rare due to the direct effect of human sacrifices), chaos every day, occasional loud equipment (but sometimes you can literally hear the wings of hawks, eagles and ravens flying overhead). A quarry shelter blowing away in those famous Wyoming winds… all just to chase the ghosts of worlds upon worlds so distant in time they make the nearest star look like a neighbor in your subdivision, considering the speed of light.
This year, as mentioned in the 2007 annual report, we are in a better position than ever to chase those ghosts. We should catch more pieces of them than ever before, with our new position, and equipment. To help us along, we’ll be able to work in the shade all day for the first time ever (unless you want a tan – then you can visit shadeless quarries nearby). To assist us further, we have just received a grant from WIPS which should allow our very own compressor, also for the first time. A small house has been loaned to us; for volunteers who perhaps could not otherwise afford to be there.
Our work is published, and the Carnegie has reacted. Of course, red-tailed hawks chasing one another upon an afternoon, unidentified smaller birds at sunset leading your eyes to the deer on the quarry’s edge, an aircraft flying below the level where you work, nights in the 60’s even as the days might exceed 100, the “largest hot springs in the world,” plus the only Archaeopteryx in the Western Hemisphere just three miles away, and working with people from around the globe might be considered fair compensation to some.
If interested, contact him at: dinoguy11@hotmail.com or 303-663-7119
Malcolm Bedell
Denver Gem and Mineral Show
September 12 - 14
Displays, dealers, demonstrations, minerals, gems,
jewelry, fossils. WIPS
will have a booth.
Denver Gem and
Mineral