Rockhounding in the USA

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Shark's Teeth in Central Mississippi

Having been raised along the sedimentary strata of coastal California near Santa Cruz, I was no stranger to fossilized shark teeth as a child. But, after relocating to the Midwest at the end of 1979, I feared that my ancient tooth hunting days might be over. And now, thirty-eight years later (with a rockhound-of-a-son about the same age I was when I moved) we took a little geological roadtrip to Alabama and then back up through Mississippi.

I stumbled across information about the W.M. Browning Cretaceous Park online a few months back. It seemed like a dream come true--fossilized shark's teeth in a modest creek only about four hours away from home. I was chomping at the bit, waiting for spring break so that Chase and I could hit some fossil hotspots across the South, especially excited to sift through the sandy gravels of Twentymile Creek just north of Frankstown, Mississippi.

Looking to the West. Hwy 45 passes over

Mid-April arrived, and we packed up and headed down Interstate 55. We first traveled to Macon County, Alabama to hunt for petrified wood all afternoon on Friday near Wetumpka, and then jotted down to the coast for a Saturday of fun at the beach in Gulf Shores. On Sunday we traveled up Highway 45 to Starkville, Mississippi for Easter services with a friend, and then changed into our rockhounding water gear and hurried to the intersection of Highway 45 and County Road 7450.

Looking East (County Rd. 7450 bridge)

W.M. Browning Cretaceous Park (not really a "park" but rather a small, dirt parking area along Twentymile Creek on the east side of Highway 45) is announced by a tall, marble-like slab on the left side of the short entrance. The monolith describes the modern and ancient history of the area, which is open to the public for free digging and sifting.

We parked, changed into our river shoes, grabbed our floating sifter (constructed of 1/4" hardware cloth with a 2x4 frame, and foam zip-tied to two sides for buoyancy) and shovel, before hiking down the steep northern bank to the cozy creek.

Initially we traveled about twenty-five yards to the east (left) and did several test screens from the river bottom, but found nothing. Another fossil enthusiast came walking up from the west (right) and shared with us that he had better luck towards the west (between where we were and where Highway 45 passed high above the creek).

He showed us his finds for the day, which included several fairly large and complete teeth. My pulse quickened and my resolve renewed. Chase and I thanked him for the advice, and then we heeded it.

After several unsuccessful screen tests of the sandy gravel along the southern bank, we decided to test a few shovelfuls from the bottom of the (fairly warm) creek. One of our early shovel loads immediately yielded a gorgeous black tooth. Chase snagged it up with a yell before I could hardly even focus on it. We continued in the center of the creek, typically finding a tooth about every two or three screens of material. Occasionally we would be blessed to find two teeth in one screen. We relocated to various spots off to the west, going as far as the overpass, but returned to our initial "honey hole" and continued to reap the benefits.

After three hours of back-breaking shovel work (Chase said that his skills were better served running the sifter!) we climbed back up the bank and nabbed a hotel room in Corinth, about thirty minutes north. We laid out our treasures, roughly 30 teeth, with great satisfaction. Since returning home, Chase has repeatedly spoken of heading back to Twentymile Creek. It is thrilling to see my son get just as excited as I was at his age when I had the opportunity to sift for shark's teeth.

CLICK HERE for a Google Maps locator for this fossil site.

Here is a short video about my recent expedition to the W. M. Browning Cretaceous Park to hunt for Shark's Teeth fossils:

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Friday, April 14, 2017

Alabama Petrified Wood Adventure

The Alabama air temperature may be acting like early summer in mid-April, but the chilly creek water is still acting more like the late winter. The shallow, gentle flows of the Uphapee (also known as the Chewacla Creek) in northern Macon County was the petrified wood destination for my son, Chase, and I. The sun was high in the sky, the temperature hovered in the mid-70s, and we brought sunscreen and high hopes to this fossil hotspot in the deep South.

After turning off Interstate 85 and heading north for about 500 yards, we pulled off on the east side of Alabama State Route 81 (just after crossing the bridge) and trudged along the bamboo-infested, sandy banks of the Uphapee. It was a bit of a challenge to find an easy way down to the water, but we forged our way across to the southern bank and then headed east along the sandy, gravel bars.

Our first thirty minutes of scouring the wide assortment of rounded rocks (many of them composed of thin layers that seem like petrified wood) yielded nothing conclusive. We pushed further east for about another 200 yards and I finally landed the largest single piece of petrified wood I have ever found.

The 11-inch chunk was just a dark discoloration submerged about 6-inches deep along the bottom of the creek. I grabbed it and yanked it up, and let out a bit of a shout.

My son, not to be outdone, scoured the shallows only a few feet away and produced his own hand-sized chunk.

After another hour of fruitless searching, which included examining the gray clay layers on either bank, I headed back west about 50 yards and spotted a nice piece jutting up right at the southern edge of a gravel-bar island. The texture and detail of the jagged fragment was stunning.

I would have loved to have hunted on the shores on either side, but the density of the woods and the unmarked stretches of private property quickly squelched that enterprise. Since this trip, I have discovered that many people bring long metal poles and plunge them into the soft silt of the creek bottom. Large pieces of petrified wood are often found buried in the mud. Having collected petrified wood in Arizona and Colorado, I am used to finding large quantities of smaller chunks scattered over a wide area, but it is puzzling to me why we didn't find lots of smaller, rounded pieces on the gravel bars. We spent about three hours total, and I only found one small chunk that might be petrified wood (that wasn't down in the water). The reputation of the area as being rich in petrified wood led me to believe that we would readily find lots of smaller pieces scattered about. That just wasn't the case.

I've heard that there is more wood (and some of it coated with small crystals) to be found on the western bank of the creek leading up to the dam in Wetumpka, but that locale will have to wait for a future trip.

The creek had discolored the exterior of our fossils to a dark brown (almost black) along with a deep green, but we soaked them in a bucket of water mixed with healthy doses of C.L.R. cleaner (readily found at Wal-Mart) and they cleaned up nicely.

Click on this link for a Google Maps marker to this exact hunting spot:

Location Click HERE

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Sunday, February 14, 2016

Indiana State Road 1: Not Fossil Rich...Fossil WEALTHY

With over 40 years of experience scratching the dirt, chipping the rocks, and flipping the stones, I can attest to the fact that the phrase "hunting for fossils" is quite correct.

Just as the big game hunter must wait patiently in the wild, or must cover a large territory, in search of their prey, a dedicated fossil hunter spends more time looking than finding.

But then there are those locales that defy description. These locales are so packed with remnants of past life that we get the extreme joy of actually rejecting "lesser quality" finds.

Like a gorgeous gal at a dance who can pick and choose her partners, these sites allow us to turn down anything below a certain expectation of quality.

The famous Indiana State Highway 1 roadcut a few miles north of St. Leon is one of those rare places. In over 4 decades of rockhounding, few sites that I have visited can even begin to compare with the sheer quantity and quality of fossil-easy-pickings here.

The terraced slopes gracing both east and west sides of the state route are nearly solid aquatic fossil beds. Almost every rock you can pick up, see, or touch is a mass of the memories of marine life.

I have visited the site on multiple occasions with my son, Chase, and the locale has never ceased to amaze me in terms of the richness of the material. There are signs warning over-zealous collectors against using large tools (prybars, etc) in the area.

But trust me, you wont need much more than a small hammer, chisel, and a large bucket or two.

My personal favorites in the area are the horn corals, but brachiopods, bryozoans, and even trilobites are found throughout (though a trilobite here is a rare gem).

In other collecting sites around the world, the fossil rich zone is usually a single, well-defined layer. But here, all the layers, from those even with the highway, all the way to the top of the deep roadcut, are packed with fossils.

To reach this ancient treasure chest, take Interstate 74 to the St. Leon turnoff, then head north. Once you pass through St. Leon, the huge roadcut (about 1/2 mile long!) will be approximately 3.3 miles north of town.

CLICK HERE for a Google Map to the exact location

A nice horn coral in matrix

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Friday, February 12, 2016

Bountiful Bladed Blue Barite Bonanza!

Our August 2015 mineralogical expedition through the Rockies led us to a little gem (pun intended) just outside of Hartsel, Colorado. I had read about the famous and beautiful bladed blue barite found in the iron-rich clays of Park County, and my son Chase and I had to spend a few hours investigating.

The digging site is on private property, and one must first pay a small fee and obtain permission at the Bayou Salado Trading Post. This little shop is a rockhound's dream, with a rich collection of specimens from all over, including all of the famous local minerals (amazonite, smoky quartz, and aquamarine).

The distinct outline of Mount Antero hangs in the distance to the west as you enter the shop, where you will meet either Dave or Lark Harvey. They are wonderful folks and full of local information. After a brief meet and greet, we signed the release form, and they gave us directions to the claim.

After leaving the Bayou Salado Trading Post, we drove 1.33 miles west on Highway 24, until we arrived at a small dirt road and gate on the left (Cold Row Rd.). The collecting locale, located on the side of gentle hill, is approximately 1.4 miles down this lane (south).

There are a few gates that you must pass through, and it is important to close and latch the gate behind you at each of those important points.

A large exposed area of red clays is on your left, and the evidence of blue barite is abundant, with tiny, shiny pieces of the treasured, bladed crystal form littering the diggings.

There are a few more pits located off to the east and north, and these need to be explored as well. Bring a small shovel and a trowel and a bucket (and water).

The late summer breezes were a delight on a beautiful partly cloudy day, and we met a couple who had traveled from Washington state. They showed us their finds, which included some nice clusters with impressive color. They said that they had found them easily, without much effort, but away from the main diggings.

CLICK HERE for a link to the exact location in Google Maps