Buffalo, WY

Bills its self as "one of top 10 western towns" in the west. Art work around town depicts the western theme.

Jenkins family home built in 1916

Headed up to Crazy Woman Canyon in the Big Horn National Forest. 

Many businesses and geographical features in Wyoming are name Crazy Woman this and Crazy Woman that. Legend is that an indian woman was the soul surviver when her village was raided. She continued to live along the creek, now named Crazy Woman Creek, where her village was located and slowly went crazy. It further said that even today during a full moon you can see her ghost leaping back and forth across the creek.

Crazy Woman Canyon is a beautiful deep narrow canyon running down the east side of the Big Horn Nation Forest. (44.17968, -106.8822)

Powder River pass, looking west. 9666 feet.

Down the the west side along Tensleep Creek.

Nice spot to camp. (44.09409, -107.28932) There is a million dollar view out my windows. I love to camp on USFS land, its beautiful and usually free.

Generator Repair, Not

While on the dig the generator again had problems running the AC. Cummins in Gillette, WY spent all day Friday trying to recreate the problem I had. They removed the gen and bench tested it. They reinstalled it and test it further. They spent all day on it and could not make it fail. It seems to only fails when I am in the middle of nowhere and really need it. On the positive side, Cummins did not charge me for all the testing. A very pleasant surprise.
Heading down the road toward Buffalo with my fingers crossed. Headed for Crazy Woman Canyon in the Big Horn National Forest.

Triceratops Dig II

Pat is an expert fossil collector and camp cook for all of Barbara's digs

This is Pat's truck. Pat has attitude in spades

These are macro fossils that Pat collected from ant hills. These fossils tell you what the paleo-environment was 65 million years ago. In this case there are turtle & amphibian bones/teeth and fish scales. This was a coastal environment much like the Louisiana coast of today. Pat has a very trained eye to be able to pick these fossils out all the small rocks on the ant hill

Mike is creating a site map

After the bones are exposed, you dig down around the bones leaving about 4 fingers width of matrix around the bones. 

Next comes the toilet paper. Lots of TP. You put is on wet and push it into all the nooks and carnies. The TP make it easy to separate the bones from the plaster jacket.

All TPed and ready for plaster

Burlap soaked in plaster is next applied to the top and sides.

Identification comes next 

Some of the bones with their top jackets

Next the bones are under cut so you get a mushroom type shape. Then you roll it and hope the bones don't fall out the bottom.

Rock is removed from the bottom until you reach bone.

Then the bottom is jacketed. 

The large and fragile frill gets extra attention and support from 2x2 lumber added to the jacket. 

All hands on deck for the flip. A complete success

This Triceratops horn, not from our dino, was found a short distance away.  

Very carefully exposing the horn

This is the tip of the horn and about a 1/4 of the full length.

A great time was had by all. 

Triceratops Dig

Dig site is located in the Thunder Basin National Grassland of Wyoming. The fossil is deposited in the Hell Creek formation and is 65 to 70 million years old.

Dig site

In the center, humerus on left and scapula on right

Humerus on left, scapula on right

Everybody looking for bones

Yeah, I found a bone the first day. It was never determined which bone it was.

My bone was cracked, but no problem. We glue them together with Paleo Glue.

Mike, USFS paleontologist, applies the glue. Also all the bones get covered with a solution of plastic dissolved in acetone. The liquid seeps into the bones, acetone evaporates and the plastic helps hold the fragments together

And presto, it is whole again

Day three part of the frill was uncovered. Very exciting. This is about a 1/4 of the entire frill. Part of it had been recovered last year. 

Barbara, USFS paleontologist and leader of the dig working around the scapula. 

Barbara uncovered the Triceotops' horn. 

A tooth from a Theropod dinosaur, probably feeding the the Triceratops. 

These are Triceratops teeth. They have hundreds of teeth set several rows deep. As teeth wear out, new ones move forward to replace them. Much like a shark

To be continued

At the Dig

Repairs completed and Serenity has landed.

The landscape

The camp. (43.51528, -104.45308) A thunder and lighting show is in progress.

Down for Repairs

When the AC would not run on the generator I went to Tour America RV Center in Billings, MT. Getting in for summer repairs is very tight. They were able to get me in Wednesday. They replaced the transfer switch $$, but then the generator would not start. Bill thought is was the regulator on the Onan. He could send it over to the local Onan service center, Cummins, to be tested, but they did not have that part in stock if it was bad. I called Cummings in Gillette, WY and they could get me in Friday. I decided to go there. They are closer to the dig and they are an authorized service center. I am here now. Good decision. They found the circuit board is bad and luckily they have one in stock. $$$  I have to wonder if the circuit board was damaged when the new transfer switch was installed. On a positive note I should be on the road after lunch. I might even make it to the dig tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Side note
Billings had one of my favorite chains, Qdoba. I love the Ancho pulled pork burrito with Mole sauce.
It was on the menu, so I ordered it. When it reached the sauce station in assembly, I was told they substitut Bar-B-Que sauce for Mole sauce. When I want Bar-B-Que sauce, I go to a Bar-B-Que place. I go to Qdoba for the mole. They should post this change on their menu. What a bummer.