2001 Notes from the Field
The whole past is the procession of the present.
Thomas Carlyle
2001
Notes from the Field - The Latest News!
The daily updates to these "diary" pages were initiated in 2003 with the installation of the Satellite Internet Connection. The material here is taken from Field Note Books and other records that were recorded during the season.
All times given are Texas time, (CDT). Local time is actually one hour earlier (MDT).
- Monday, 4 June
- Finally left Keene about 1:00pm.
- Tuesday, 5 June
- Arrived at the camp site around 3:00pm. Everyone was "bone" tired!
- Wednesday, 6 June
- Appointed quarry leaders: David, North Quarry; Kathleen, South Quarry; and Zury, the new South Ridge Quarry. It did not take long to set up the GPS, and start to find bones! This is the first year to have pre-printed field labels. These are assigned in contiguous numbers to the three active quarries. The lecture in the evening was by Lee Spencer.
- Thursday, 7 June
- Another busy day! Art Chadwick gave the evening lecture.
- Friday, 8 June
- Bulldozer arrived in the morning to remove additional overburden on east and west sides of the Hoodoo Hut and the North Quarry and the area between North and South quarries and also to lower the overburden east of the South quarry. In the afternoon, the group went to Newcastle for laundry and dinner. In the evening we had a good soaking thunderstorm.
- Saturday, 9 June
- The directors prepared a late breakfast. Zury led out in the bible study and Art presented the worship service.
- Sunday, 10 June
- Another full excavation day!
- Monday, 11 June
- Tuesday, 12 June
- Took a field trip to the Black Hills—Black Hills Institute and the South Dakota School of Mines Geology Museum.
- Wednesday, 13 June
- Thursday, 14 June
- Today was a wet gloomy day with rain most of the day. However, the late afternoon brought "sunshine" at least in the trailer with the group celebrating Julie's birthday!
- Friday, 15 June
- The afternoon brought the regular trip to Newcastle for laundry and a meal at the Pizza Barn.
- Saturday, 16 June
- Zury and Tom shared the Bible study in the morning.
- Sunday, 17 June
- In the morning prepared the quarries for the Open House scheduled for the afternoon.
- Monday, 18 June
- Larry was happy to see his nephew-in-law, Dan, with daughters Heather and Heidi arrive late in the evening.
- Tuesday, 19 June
- Wednesday, 20 June
- We had to make a supply trip to Newcastle, so took the opportunity for a laundry day.
- Thursday, 21 June
- Friday, 22 June
- The group took a trip to the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, SD.
- Saturday, 23 June
- Sunday, 24 June
- This day started the last week with primary goals to excavate and remove the located bones in order to leave the quarries with as few exposed bones as possible.
- Monday, 25 June
- Tuesday, 26 June
- Wednesday, 27 June
- We closed all the quarries: covered the area with straw and black plastic and fenced the quarry sites with barbed wire.
- This was a very successful year with over 700 fossils identified and removed for preservation.
- Thursday, 28 June
- Everyone who remained spent the morning working hard in cleaning up the camp site, taking down the the circus tent, packing the trailer and van, and finally leaving about 1:00pm.
- Friday, 29 June
- Arrived in Keene about 3:00pm!
NOTES FROM 2002
