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A Second Trip to Utah (and Other Places out West)
By Marc Behrendt
It was a dark and stormy night. And day. And night. And day again. My return trip to
Utah was considerably different than last years’ journey. Last year’s weather
was perfect for collecting. This year, of 10 days to collect, 4 days were total rainouts,
and I was not particularly interested to see how high the water gets in the washes that
cross the roads, and often are the roads. But there were many good things that happened as
well.
My first three days took me to Nevada, to collect with a couple friends who have found
a Lower Cambrian locality with many complete Olenellus trilobites, all undescribed,
(although they will soon have their identities revealed in a Journal of Paleontology
entry.) My friends asked me not to reveal the locality. I found three or four dozen
complete trilobites, 5 species with pieces of a 6th, all very rare. What was
amazing about this site, nearly every piece of shale contained heads and body parts of Olenellus
trilobites. It was really decent! I have never been allowed an opportunity to collect
such incredible material.
After Nevada, I headed to the House Range in Utah. I wanted to locate a few spots which
yield trilobite species other than those I encountered last year. The first day I went to
Swasey Mountain, which was my favorite spot from last year. The breathtaking beauty was
still fabulous. I found a couple hundred agnostid trilobites, plus a few more Brachyaspidions,
then hiked around for the remainder of the day. I ran into a quarry somebody recently dug,
which was surrounded by a ton of litter. Bottles, cans, plastic wrappers, you name it.
This is the first time I have ever encountered such a dump.
The next couple days I looked for the locations described to me. And I looked and
looked, but with no luck. Afterwards, talking with my friends, I discovered I was really
close in every attempt. I hoped to find the Modocia typicalis and Modocia
leviculata (sp?) localities. I ended up collecting the same spots I found last year,
which was not a bad thing, as they had some nice material for the finding, but I wanted
something different.
The weather had been warm, lows in the 60’s and highs in the high 80’s. And
it was very windy. Storms were drenching the areas east of the House Range, but I stayed
dry. The next day I collected in the Drum Mountains, a location near the House Range but
with fewer places to collect. After a long search, I found the dig sites. The
clouds moved in, and as I checked out the area, the wind began to howl. I found an
exposure of shale sticking out of the soil, so I dug in a little bit and discovered a
layer of trilobites, all covered with calcite so I could not identify them.
The Drums are known for Modocia brevispina, so I assumed that was what I was
finding. (When I got back home and prepped these out, I discovered they were all Elrathia
kingi.) The most desirable bugs though are the Olenoides and Kootinia,
both big and spiny trilobites. I collected until mid-afternoon, when the clouds got so
thick it began to look like dusk. I could not see the fossils in the shale, and the wind
was blowing so hard my discarded shale was blowing away! I decided I better get out while
the getting was good.
Later, the heavens opened up, and continued all night. The next day I decided to try
the Ordovician exposures near Ibex. The weather seemed OK, so I headed off into the
desert. After an hour drive, I could see the mountain. I slowly made my way down the vague
desert road, and had to stop abruptly. The road dropped 6 feet straight down into a gully
– a washout! I hiked about looking for a way around, but the wash created a new
canyon as far as I could see. Dejected, I headed back to the House Range to check out
North Canyon.
30 minutes of collecting yielded nothing, and for some reason I looked over my
shoulder. The entire mountain range behind me was missing. All I could see were clouds-
black clouds with lots of rain.
I hustled out of the canyon, and just in time. I had to stop and wait for the
torrential downpour to stop, and then headed back to the motel. Since the forecast was
more of the same for the next few days, I headed up towards Idaho, but that was even a
worse mess, with heavy rains and flash flooding.
It seems, between El Nino and a hurricane, I could not win. My collecting trip ended on
a sad note, not once able to collect the last 3 days, but it sure began with a bang!
Although I was disappointed in the final new species count, my Utah collecting trip was
fantastic none-the-less. I did find some very rare trilobites, I got to spend time with my
good friends for a few days, and I met 3 new friends out in the Nevada deserts. Will I go
back to Utah? You bet I will!
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