Although Tim and I have been at AGFO for more than two months, I have not made the time to hike the two trails here. My excuse is that it was either too hot or too wet, or that I couldn’t afford to take the time away from my project.
On Saturday, I finally made it to the Fossil Hills Trail, which leads to the famous, historic excavation sites or quarries. I confess that I didn’t hike the trail, but caught a ride in the Polaris when Tera Lynn was taking Ranger Amelia to the top for her ranger talk. Although Amelia pointed out evidence of fossils in the exposed hillside, I had trouble seeing them. Obviously, I would never make it as a paleontologist! My favorite part was the views over the surrounding landscape.
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| The Fossil Hills Trail Begins at the Visitor Center and Leads to the Historic Quarries |
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| Ranger Amelia Tried Her Best to Help Me See Evidence of Fossils |
On our way back to the visitor center, Tera Lynn made a detour so I could see the Bone Cabin, which was used as a temporary residence for paleontologists who were working the fossil quarries in the early 1900s. Thanks for the ride!
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| The Bone Cabin, Views from Fossil Hills, and My Ride |
Today, I did hike the Daemonelix Trail, which features fossil exhibits of the spiral corkscrew burrows of the Paleocastor, an ancient land beaver that lived here in the Miocene. Ranger Ember presented her geology tour, and I learned about the various geological layers of the area. It was especially cool to see the “Devil’s Corkscrews.” Even I was able to identify several of these fossilized burrows, apart from the ones preserved in the exhibit cases.
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| Ranger Ember Helped Me Understand the Geology of the Area |
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| The "Devil's Corkscrews" or Daemonelix |
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