#UDIG DELTA UTAH FOR FREE#

You need are comfortable clothes (long pants of course), a hat, sunscreen, knee pads, boots, water jug, your Eastwing, newspaper to wrap fossils, buckets, flats for fossil storage, a large special pry bar to peel-up the rock layers, and a special iron blade sharpened at one edge to split the layers. I definitely over-packed roc- tool-wise for this trip, as I really did not know what to expect. 'It's even too hot for rattlesnakes' as the Jam experts told us - now that's hot! One thing good about desert fossil collecting is that you do not have to worry about a sudden rainstorm spoiling your plans, and mosquitoes and the pesky deer flies are nonexistent. Hourly, Jam staff visited each quarry by ATV to check people with water supplies. They did not want any fossil nuts dropping dead and becoming fossils themselves. Water, water, and more water is the key to survival, and the Jam staff were well prepared. You cannot cool down in the dry desert because any sweat evaporates immediately. Needless to say, heat exhaustion and heat stroke is a clear and present danger. Sunny, cloudless skies, no trees, no shade, no bushes, rocks and cactus, and very hot (in upper 90s to over 100 daily).

Looking around, I was 'not in Kansas (err Chicago) any more'. I was really impressed with the planning, preparations, and accommodations. They even offered attractive T-shirts and caps for sale.

#UDIG DELTA UTAH FOR FREE#

They scoured the area for potentially rich trilobite outcrops to quarry (6 quarries in all, most brand new) obtained all necessary government permits to lease the land and paid the fees, hired locals with heavy machinery to expose the trilobite layers below ground, rented several port-a-johns (even with solar lights to find them in the dark), provided hand-wash stations, enticed a rock hunting equipment dealer to be on site to sell tools if needed, and arranged for a rock table saw for free use to cut down slabs. Our host Jake Skabelund and staff of the American Trilobite Suppliers, planned for everything and spared no expense to make this experience safe, memorable, and rewarding for all 60 fossil collectors from California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and other states. 1st Place - 2011 MWF Advanced Adult Articles

Udig delta utah