Trail Blazing

Yes, I did another day of hiking. While we weren't busy today, my boss had me familiarize myself with the trails at Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.

In one case, that meant another "moderate" trail that was hard to find. This is known as the 'rock walk,' a self-guided tour that includes pieces of bone in situ ("in the rock"), some geology, an old excavation site, and a place to look for the super fast, record breaking lizards that we have in the area.

The other wasn't a trail at all. It was an off the path tour that we give to people who are really interested and capable. This is the "short track." Again, there is a lot of geology and in situ bone fragments, but even better there are sauropod and therapod tracks. You can see where an ancient lake filled the valley from the top and where an ancient stream ran down the mountain.

The sauropod tracks aren't that obvious unless you think about it. Basically the track filled in with sediment and then itself eroded away, leaving the negative in the rock. Because of this, if you look at the outcrop and see bumps coming from it, instead of flat, sedimentary rock, you'll see the shape of a dinosaur foot. You also may find some around the route that have eroded out.

There is also a very unusual geologic feature up there. These are basically drainage cracks in sand, much like mud cracks. However, instead of the water evaporating away, the water seeps into the drying sand, leaving this pattern behind in sandstone instead of mud.

In addition is evidence that there was water here; limestone, clams that were covered by mud, some of which suffocated immediately and others which burrowed a little bit before they died, thus making their fossils less clear.

My personal favorite is the (sadly eroding) therapod footprint, possibly an allosaur that was about a fifth of its full size. Sadly, we lose a little bit of it with every rain, so I'm not sure how long it will last exposed. That's the way it goes though when you have something you can't collect easily... its not something you can take a cast of because its not an imprint. Its what filled an imprint in.

You have to be led by an employee here to find any of it. And you have to come on a day that the quarry isn't awfully busy and there are multiple staff there. After hiking it four times today, I'm still having trouble finding the entrance to it! I also tripped twice on my last round, and when my boss asked if I was getting tired I reminded him of the hike the day before and mentioned that my boots hadn't exactly been kind to my ankles.

"...yeah you're done for the day."

At least this time I was able to breathe on the trail. Last time I went up that hill with him, I wasn't acclimated yet and my lungs started hurting by the time I was up it. I'm adjusted now though, and the only trick is learning the unmarked twists and turns so that I can lead people around the tour myself.