Malta - Day 5
8/7/06
I met my boss at the airport about noon. His job is to check out this field area for its potential as a working site and training area for students. I have this sneaking hunch that, when it is 97 and 110% humidity in Raleigh, day or night, his REAL reason for coming here might enhanced by the promise of 55 degree mornings, and our late summer 4% humidity. He got the rental car from the Bozeman airport, and followed me down the 20 or so winding miles of country back roads to get to the ranch where I am staying for the summer. I had fun showing him how "real westerners" drive! Montana has only had an official speed limit for about 5 years or so. I learned fast. I mean, FAST.
I had most things ready to go, so we loaded all the gear into the rental, and headed east to Big Timber then straight north in an unbroken line for Malta. A slightly different route this time, but still just as straight and bleak. Two and a half hours of getting caught up on department issues (lots of changes), Raleigh news and politics (ummm...), and North Carolina weather (hot, wet, humid and 95 degrees since late May, perhaps cooling to 90 in the evenings), then we stopped in Lewistown for gas and food. I love this little cow-town, sitting completely alone in the geographic center of the state, an anomaly for its beautiful stonemasonry and very few timbered buildings. There are no trees here for building materials, and in the days of the Copper Kings and the building of the railroads, there were even less. But, you can see the pride that the immigrant settlers took in their handiwork, and the talent they brought from their homelands. The buildings still stand 150 years later, with all their intricate designs and embellishments intact.
Food, gas and ice-filled coolers later, we head north again, for another 2 ½ to 3 hours, and again the familiar names pop up on the road signs. This way to Winnet, straight ahead to Malta, past Zortman, Harlowton, Judith Gap...we stop in Malta for an ice cream cone, and head on to the little cabin once again. Not much has changed--but there is a newspaper on the bed we didn't leave, and we had to call the manager for the key. Out here, you trust the neighbors, it's the newcomers and passers-through that make the padlocks a necessity.
So, we unloaded and sat on the little porch in our borrowed chairs, fighting mosquitoes and watching the incredible prairie sunset, only tearing ourselves away from the view after the colors had all faded to black. One thing I am so impressed with is the absence of human sounds. Wind in the tall, dry grasses, prairie birds singing their night songs, crickets and frogs, but no television sounds, no booming music, no cars, no voices.
Dinner was mac-n-cheese over the Coleman stove, and finally bed, in the cooling night. The sun goes down, and mosquitoes come out in force, but the temp drops rapidly, until it is quite cool. My boss struggles to put up his tent in the dark, cussing out mosquitoes every other second, and me--I am in the cabin. Hot, but I had a bed! This is the kind of boss-employee relationship I like!
Posted at 01:11PM Aug 17, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Malta - Day 4
7/30/06
It is Sunday, but the routine is the same here. Wake with the first hint of a lighter sky, throw off the blanket with its covering of mosquitoes. Walk outside in the grey dawn to use the bathroom (still not brave enough for the outhouse again), dry grass crunching underneath bare feet.
Back to the cabin to clean up and get ready for the day--I make lunches, Lonnie makes coffee (MUCH more important at the moment than breakfast or lunch). Watch the sun come up over the badland exposures, and the sky turn from night dark to light grey to brilliant red, then the burned light of full sun. Pack the packs, fill the water bottles, check for specimen bags, and we are off.
Today we are walking out two new coulees we haven't seen before, and then will come back and explore the ridge across from the cabin. We hope to end a bit early today, head to town for showers, then one of the local landowners has invited us to a barbecue. It is a good chance to meet more of the folks around here, something I really enjoy.
It was a great day. Hot, and the morning was kind of disappointing, we didn't find much of anything. I was tired, and didn't walk at the pace I did yesterday, but took some breaks to just look around and enjoy the view. Then, walking back to the vehicles, I ran into Paul, who said Andi had found what appeared to be more bone, but she wasn't sure so could I come look.
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Vince, excavating Andi's second great find! Arrow shows femur shaft.
Well, what a great find--two in a row from the newbie! The bone was absolutely pristine in preservation, coming out from the wall of a sandstone channel, and it had all the hallmarks of being theropod (meat eater). It was in a channel lag, mixed in with other bone and some wood. So, Vince decided to work it back, and the rest of us looked over the rest of the face. Soon, another was spotted. I scrambled up on a ledge, took one look, and it made my day! A beautiful Albertosaur tooth, shining in the sand wall, serrations obvious in the sun.
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At last! A theropod tooth!
Then, another bone, found by Andi's dad Paul, and then, Vince said "there's more bone behind this one." So two mini quarries revealed a lot of bone, all very well preserved. Full inventory and identification awaits, but it was a good day.
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Vince and Paul, with part of jacketed limb! The Millers outdid the old hands!
Some of the local folks had a barbecue for us at the end of the day, out at the reservoir. It was quite a production! They grilled some of their own free-range beef, on an amazing contraption that was part railroad car, part covered seating, part oven, and part massive grill, all on wheels. Barb and Gary really went all out, cooking an amazing spread for not only us, but some other orphan geologists they picked up from Greece and other faroff places, as well as a host of "locals."
The discussion was quite---lively--and we got a lot of insight into various political opinions. I was busy trying to change subjects a lot. And, I was busy trying to avoid mosquitos. I made the mistake of walking down to the shoreline to wade, and they were lying in wait, hordes and hordes. They followed me back to the barbecue in a large grey cloud. Everyone gasped and ran for cover, leaving me standing outside. However, Barb, our host, provided the best remedy yet for my welted legs and arms--pure apple cider vinegar, applied directly to the bites! I was surprised, it really did work. I wonder if it works as a repellent as effectively? It is annoying to walk the badlands smelling like a pickle for no reason. But then again, pickle scent is better than what we USUALLY smell like by the end of the day. All things even out.
I will be back in the Judith River one more time before returning to Raleigh. My last of field work until next summer. Hopefully that will be another productive, yet shorter trip. And, hopefully I will have more finds to report.
Posted at 02:24PM Aug 14, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Malta - Day 3
7/29
We walked out two coulees today. In some areas we found fragments of bone weathering out, some quite large, but we could not see any more bone or parts, just lots of "float" bone. All the bone belongs to hadrosaurs, or "duckies", the duckbilled dinosaurs that were so plentiful around here that they have earned the name "cows of the Cretaceous". As soon as I heard that, I determined never to study them. I mean, cows are BORING, but even for hadrosaurs, there is something absolutely amazing about being the first human ever to touch the bones of something so old and once alive.
It was windy all day, and not a cloud in the sky. The wind was great, because it kept the hordes of man-eating mosquitoes from doing as much damage as they could have without it, and kept the horse and deer flies to a minimum. The latter are not remotely affected by bug spray, and, to be honest, neither are the mosquitoes. At all. I think that if a chemical company wanted to test the efficacy of their sprays, there would be no better place than the Milk River in the height of summer. And, it seems that *I* am that piece of fly paper that one hangs from the roof to draw all the flies, so others aren't bothered. Except, I draw mosquitoes. Sigh. I guess someone has to.
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Lunch break. HOT. No shade. Predatory cows eyeing our sandwiches.
When we had no luck at the first coulee, we split into groups and walked all the draws draining into Horse Camp Coulee. Some of us more reclusive types went alone, and we covered a lot of ground--so much that I feel confident saying there are NO dinosaurs at that level at all. But, Walt had the best experience of us all. He walked to the end of the draw, and came upon a stand of small bushes. He heard some rustling, and looked up in time to see a cougar dart out and up the hill away from him. He said that this was the biggest cat he ever saw, on a par with some of the African lions, and was within 30 feet--fortunately, going the right direction--away! Suddenly all of those fresh scattered cow and deer bones I had been seeing took on new meaning.
We ended the day with a trip to better exposures, on BLM land. We wanted to get an idea of how the strata were inter-related, and that was where we could see the whole section, from the base Claggett Shales to the top capstones. The Judith looks completely different there, and the cut-aways are spectacular. The land goes on forever, split only by the sharp green lining the meandering Milk River, highlighted against the parched yellow grasses. Bob found a petrified log, complete with knots in the surface, that I will pass on to a colleague who studies fossil woods. Maybe this find will eventually get her out here!
Then, at the end of another hot, dusty, dry, and not so fruitful day, we headed back to the cabin. The dogs were tired, and grateful for the chance to just sleep in the shade. We started to get dinner, and I decided to take advantage of a few minutes of down time to walk the 1/8 mile to the outhouse on the property. I was reliving the day, and not paying much attention to my surroundings. I struggled to get the spike out of the lock on the door, and wandered in rather absentmindedly, my mind on other things entirely, when I heard a rustle in the outhouse and a sound similar to crackling parchment, only LOUD. I looked up to see a 5 foot snake crawling up the wall right by the seat! Ok, so I AM a girl, I screamed. "There's a rattlesnake in the outhouse!". I was really glad that Bob and Lee had decided to pitch camp outside our cabin. They both came running. Bob, who is always prepared for anything, brought his pistol. By then, I had quit shaking, and hollered "let me get my camera!" and raced off after them. They gingerly opened the squeaky door, and sure enough, there was the snake, down from the wall now, and wrapped around the seat and sidewall. Ugh.
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I DON?T need to go, after all!
But, Bob and Lee started laughing, sympathetic as usual--"it's only a bull snake, what are you so upset about?" Hmmm. I don't CARE that it wasn't a rattler. I don't think I will be able to go to the bathroom for a month! A 5 foot snake of ANY race and gender is not going to be my friend in the outhouse.
Ah yes,THIS is the glamour of paleontology.
The sun is just setting over the horizon, the dishes are done, and we are once more enjoying the peace and cool of the evening on the porch. What a life!. When I was young, I used to pray that I would not have an ordinary life. That prayer has surely been answered, though not in the way I expected. But life is good. And you sure never know what waits around the bend. I am blessed. And I am grateful.
Posted at 03:22PM Aug 10, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Malta - Day 2
7/28
The sun is rising--what a great night! Now, the red light of sunrise comes in from the opposite side of the one-room cabin. I think it will be hot today, but there are dark purple clouds hanging low over the bluffs, and they could either dissipate as the day progresses or hold the violence of wind and hail and lightning and rain that is common here. Those storms don't last long, but you REALLY don't want to get caught in them.
I just remembered---whenever I have mentioned to my friends out East that I will be prospecting out of Malta this summer, they have this very awed and impressed response. I couldn't understand that until one said he didn?t know there were dinosaurs in that part of Europe! Since I grew up here, in Montana, I didn't think at all that maybe someone might confuse the two. Malta Montana is NOT the Malta they are thinking of at all, just a prairie town built around cattle and railroads, right up here on the highline next to Canada. I don't think they'd be too impressed if they could see us now!
Time for coffee and packing for the day. More later.
Boy it was HOT! You know, they compare heats and it is always "well it's a dry heat", but they forget to tell you that that dry heat that makes it bearable out here sucks every drop of moisture from every orifice. Cells cannot produce enough moisture to balance that drained from the body by heat and wind, and 4% relative humidity. Fingernails crack and peel, skin turns scaly, and windburn is a constant companion. I was thinking today that there is a kind of mystique to paleontology: a romantic, "Indiana Jones" notion. But, there isn't much romance in a man (or woman) who has a permanent bend at the neck from always looking down, leathered skin from too much sun, squinty eyes from looking into the distance against the sun, and the far-away dreaminess that comes from always looking for that next great find just beyond the next horizon--oh, and did I mention the welts from mosquitoes and flies, the scratches from scrambling up scree on all fours, and the constant odor of bug spray and calamine lotion? Not the most "romantic" vision.
We had a productive day. First, what appears to be part of a skull--to my best guess, hadrosaurian. Next, Leah, one of the Museum crew, found a beautiful vertebra with a still-attached neural spine, in a vertical sandstone face.
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Miller Lite and her find of a great articulated foot and leg!
How lucky for her--the face of the cliff was in the shade most of the day, with a gentle breeze to keep things cool. The rest of the crew were encouraged with the finds, and scattered across the rest of the coulee, coming back around the other side about 1 pm, when the sun was at its peak and the heat was blazing. First, Paul found a very large rib, but the find of the day went to Andi (Miller Lite), a newbie to paleo. She found 3 large and articulated metatarsals (foot bones), with some phalanges (toe bones) off one end, and the tibia (shin) and part of a femur (thigh) heading back into the mountain. We usually give our dinosaurs field names, so this one has vacillated between "Andisaurus" and "PeeJaysaurus", the latter after her dad. Paul, our preparator, set to work getting it ready to field jacket, and I took off by myself to explore more.
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Andi's find in more detail! Cool!
In the city, I can barely find my way out of a parking lot, but here in the badlands, somehow it is easier for me. I walked a long ways, head down and eyes squinty, and finally started noticing bone chips. Soon I saw the end of a bone, disappearing into the hill. I dug out a bit--a beautiful long bone began to take shape. The way it splintered gave me hope that it was perhaps a theropod!I love the big meat-eaters most. But we won't know till it's prepared a bit more, or maybe we won't be able to tell because the ends are both missing. For now though, I can hope. We don't have too many meat eaters from this part of the formation--and you can never have too many Albertosaurs!
Even tho we enjoy our little hunting cabin with no electricity or water, we headed to town for the glorious and unplanned luxury of borrowed showers. Only one day, but those showers felt heaven sent. Then back to the quiet of the little porch where we watched the sun fade and the stars come out, one by one. My friend Bob--the finder of B-rex and a long time buddy, is here to help with prospecting, and we laughed and caught up late into the night, with Lonnie and Lee no doubt thinking we were crazy. It was good, and I sure had no trouble falling asleep!
Posted at 09:44AM Aug 09, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Montana as I see it
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Posted at 10:02AM Jul 24, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Night Sounds
July 17 Oh, what a beautiful sunrise! I love waking up in the badlands more than about anything I can think of. There were night creatures around my tent last night. I knew some of the coyotes were back, but closer. And a little night bird, chirping--chip chee chee chee--for a few hours about 3 am. But the one that worried me was a strange sound: a sort of raspy growly low-throated roar, coming from just around the outcrop from my tent. It wasn't loud and I wasn't scared, but I couldn't quite place the sound. It reminded me a little of the nighthawks one encounters out here. They fly very high, looking for prey and when they spot a suitable morsel, they tuck their wings and hurtle downward in free fall. Just before they attack, they open their wings and the wind rushes under with an unearthy roar that sounds like a nightmare. But it wasn't quite that either. I finally drifted back to sleep for about ½ hour, but the creeping morning light woke me up. At breakfast, I asked if anyone else had heard the odd sound. No one had, but one of the guys who's tent was on the opposite side of the hill from mine got a sheepish look on his face---I don't THINK I snored last night!" ummm. Yeah. Mystery solved. Sound carries a LOOONG way in the night air. Morning was spent, not as I would rather, prospecting again, but instead in front of cameras. The morning light was perfect, and it was only about 90, so they didn't suffer too much. Then, without another trip out to different sites, Jen and I piled in the film crew vehicles and headed back to Bozeman. We slept some on the 5 hour drive, but mostly looked off to the bluffs and planned our next visit. well, ok, there WAS that discussion of digging a new camp outhouse hole because the first one....well, we won't go there. For me, I will be back in the field next week, when I pick up my colleague and head to Malta, for different ages and dinosaurs. I can't wait.
Posted at 07:47AM Jul 21, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Arrival in the field
7-15-06
At last! I am in the badlands, and my heart is home. There is something about the wildness, the remoteness, the isolation that echos what I feel.
So, you know you are in my Montana when you get directions like this: drive north 25 miles or so, till you see a pile of gravel near the road. When you get to the pile, turn left, for another 20 or so miles?.if you notice that the road splits into 3, take the middle road, and go till you see a red mailbox. Turn right till the road forks, take the right fork, and eventually you get to camp. How can you explain to one who has never been there how a red mailbox truly IS a viable marker, for it is the only sign of civilization other than the road, for miles and miles and miles, where cows outnumber people 20 to 1, and where sagebrush is more prevalent than anything but mosquitos. But oh, when the white-hot, desert sky begins to blaze with the setting sun, so the whole world is on fire from the inside out, and then the sun sets behind the badland bluffs and the sky turns from orange to purple to black, ablaze with diamonds--there is nothing like it.
When the air cools enough to carry a scent, it is the clean fresh smell of sage that blows through my tent. I am home.
Tomorrow, we are going to do some light prospecting. When we arrived at camp, it was almost 8 pm, and still reading 102 on the car thermometer?but it is cool now, 2 hours later?.and a light breeze has kicked in because a storm is moving through. The lightning is spectacular, and hints at a night of wild prairie thunderstorms?I hope so. We will be with the NOVA crew. I don?t know if they know what they are in for?.it should be interesting.
The camp has been productive so far, with some exciting material coming out. No excavations yet, but the bone that has been found is incredibly well preserved, and hints at some truly exciting finds. This is the part of paleontology that I love. Without the field, I often forget why I do what I do. I am grateful for the chance to be here.
Posted at 03:23PM Jul 18, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
"Leverite" Bone
7/16/06 - continued
Well, it was hot. Very hot. And dry?the wind blew all day, but that was a good thing, because it meant we FELT less hot. But that was a bad thing, because we didn?t think to drink as much as if it felt the 100+ degrees it really was. The sun was blazing and their was really no relief. We stopped for a water break about 10 am, and I looked over the horizon, which was strangely purple. A fire had broken out, probably sparked by last night?s dry lightning, and fanned to full flame by the winds.
We continued walking the outcrops, looking for dinosaur traces, when the radio crackled a warning to look again to the horizon. A second fire broke out, much bigger than the first, and we could actually watch it grow. For a while, it seemed that it would come between us and the camp, cutting us off, but the crew chief didn?t feel that it would be a danger.
So we continued to look, with one eye toward the horizon. Eventually the smoke began to die down, and the danger was over.
We found 4 ceratopsian skulls?but all badly weathered and fragmented?.according to Bob, "Leverite bone" as in "leave her right there". So, we did. We also found theropod remains, and a wonderful microsite that was producing all kinds of dinosaur fragments. So, a good day, and a great reminder of why I love paleo.
Dinner is over now, and time for camp dishes?.I look forward to another night under the stars?hopefully without the wind dogs worrying my tent tonite.
Posted at 09:32AM Jul 18, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]
Cowboys and Campsites
7-16-06 Last night on the way to my tent, Bob stopped me (yes the Bob of ?B-rex? fame). He said there was a cowboy camped in the next draw, with his two horses (a paint and a bay) and his gun. He was hoping to catch some cattle rustlers, who so far had made off with about $150,000 in free range cattle. For a moment, I had to remind myself that this was the 21st century?but then again, some things just don?t change out here on the prairie. I woke up after a couple hours sleep, to the sound of gentle raindrops on my tent. It was wonderful, and peaceful, but it was not long before the gentle rain gave way to gale-force winds and dry lightning. The wind came roaring down the draw where I set my tent like a pack of angry dogs, throwing their bodies full on against the sides of my tent, first on, then the other, then back to the first, determined to gain entrance. Soon I was spreadeagled across my tent, trying to hold it down and wondering if my stakes would hold the rain fly down, and where I would find it the next morning. It was a long time before the wind died down, but when it did, it was utter silence, the kind you never ever experience in the city. Except of course for the coyotes yipping in the distance. It is hard to describe?. Breakfast this morning was bacon, eggs and sausage cooked over the griddle in the canvas cook tent. It was incredibly hot at 6:30 am in there. The heat is searing, but as they say it is a dry heat. You would not think this would make much difference when it hovers around 110, but it does indeed. It is more comfortable at 100 than when it is humid and 80. Sweat actually accomplishes something here. But there is always the danger of severe dehydration, because you forget to drink. It is more comfortable, so you are not constantly reminded of how miserable you are. We are off to prospect, so I will write at days end to report any finds. I hope there are some new ones.
Posted at 09:30AM Jul 18, 2006 by tppeake in General | Comments[0]