Earth Day 2017 was absolutely perfect for a private hunt here in Bluff Country. The skies were bright blue and April temps were into the 70s. This group was from Rochester, a mentor with two older children. We started out going through the fossil gardens in my yard to accustom their eyes to the shapes in the rocks and then off to Site 1, my favorite place to take new fossil hunters!
We got to see the Prosser and Stewartville members of the Galena Formation in the stark cliffs and then hunt the creek and came up with a GREAT criniod fossil just laying there on the beach! Sorry, no pic. 🙁
Then we went up to the creek that bubbles from beneath the bluff and the boys immediately started exploring and finding fossils!
April in the woods doesn’t get better than this!
One of the boys even found an abandoned cabin site down stream!
Checking out fossils and an abandoned cabin site.
Then we worked the roadside ditches.
Lots of finds in this roadside hunt.
They broke lots of rock!
A very distinct cephalopod in a very large rock.
These were city folk and as we searched the abandoned quarry I pointed out The Nastys like burning nettle (better than spinach boiled and makes a great spring tonic tea) and wild parsnip starting to shoot up. Then we rounded the hill and worked our way over to the cave in the side of the bluff. One of the boys decided to explore the cave!
Climbing into the cave via old pallets.
I have always wanted to see into that cave, but am a little too old to attempt to scale pallets and rock climb!
He made it! And took pictures of the inside of the cave so we could see it also!
Looking into the cave that he described as being 50-60 feet deep and further, but we had no flashlight.
Sidewalls and a deeper entrance point.
If I weren’t claustrophobic that might be tempting… 🙂
And out again for the climb down, which is always worse than going up!
Getting ready to climb down.
The day was starting to shorten and they had more places they wanted to visit on Earth Day, so on the walk back I pointed out different wild flowers along the deer trail we followed that were just starting to bloom – Bluebells, Dutchman’s Breeches, and Blood Root.
We finally got to see inside that cave!
What a GREAT Earth Day Adventure!
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