DAY 1 - June 29th, 2012
EDMONTON - 3:30 am
I woke up at 3:30 am....quite the processs seeing as how school just ended. I am already in summer mode!
I managed to get on the road for what will no doubt be an amazing experience. To have a chance to explore many fossil sites and locales in Suthern Alberta with fellow enthusiasts and reknowned paleontologusts such as Dr. Philip Currie, Dr. Eva Koppelhuis - both of the University of Alberta, and Dr. David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Saying goodbye to my family who were still all enjoying their slumber I departed...the sky was dark, and the sunset was such a sight to behold!
The early start of the day seemed uneventful...the lack of traffic between Edmonton and Calgary. The drive down to Calgary was quick, and was alone, not experiencing a single car until reached the outskirts of Airdrie.
Once I pulled into Calgary at 7 AM...a half hour earlier than expected based on my eagerness to start the day earlier than I had thought and the lack of traffic.
CALGARY - 8:00am
Leaving the muster point, our first journey was to Horseshoe Canyon, aptly named due to its shape. It is located on the outskirts of Drumheller. An offbeat spectacle if there was ever one as the landscape is flat as far as the eys can see, but just off the main road is a scar that extends into the Earth.....seemingly out of nowhere. BEAUTIFUL! Layered walls hundreds of fet below our position...with a few travellers in their own vehicles who stopped to take in the awe-inspiring site aong with our bus.
HORSHOE CANYON - 9:30am
A local vendor was on the side of the road selling fossils and other items that let you know that you were here in the past. I purchased a beautiful fossil turtle shell segment. The local wildlife even came out to say hi!
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| Not yet a fossil.... |
Phil Currie and his wife, Dr. Eva Koppelhuis met up with us...they summer down outside of Dinosaur Provincial Park, so it was neat to know that we were in THEIR backyard! After a brief discussion of th history and geologis story of the area, we were able to traverse the canyon walls. The incline was steeper than it looked yet once at the bottom with the sound of a breeze racing through the canyon you wished you could stay.
The heat informed you of the conditions that are ever present and you cannot help but look a tthe ground in hopes of seeing a tooth protude out of the ground. Knowing that we had three more days of these activities made eager to move on, but in retrospect, Horseshoe Canyon was an area that I wished that we had more time....the canyon floor stretched out and begged you to walk its breath, savoring every inch of a place that, while inhospitable now, teemed with life millions of years ago. The Late Cretaceous must have been a sight to behold if this was an indication. What about the rocks that made up the walls? Whose eyes peered through field glasses and spotted a perfect locale for exploring for fossils?
And what did they find?
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| What are you looking at? |
