FOSSILGUY.COM

Note: This is an old trip report: This fossil site is closed to collecting.

Scouting Trip for Fossil Ferns
Carboniferous - Pennsylvanian (~300 m.y.o.)
December 2009

Toward the end of 2009 I had some free time to fossil hunt. I also wanted to switch it up a bit, so I decided to try a fossil site that was new to me. It was a fossil fern site. Although fossil ferns are ranked #1 on my top 10 list of least favorite fossils, I figured I should at least try and find some of those famous white ferns on black shale from central PA.

The plan was simple; drive across the state and try to find some. Since it was a long haul from home, I decided I should overnight it. On the first day, I would find and scout out the place before darkness fell. I would then make a game plan based on my findings for the next day of hunting.

So, on the first day, I drove and drove and drove. As strip mines began appearing from horizon to horizon, I knew I was getting close. When I arrived near the town, the whole area became a vast strip mine, no trees over 30 feet could be seen. For miles and miles all land had been dug up and stripped of its precious coal.

Everything looked the same; the tale-tale black shell was exposed everywhere. "Where is the exact site where the fern-bearing layer is exposed?" I asked. It took an hour or so of driving around to find it. Darkness was already approaching when I parked my car (winter solstice makes for short days), and I still had to hike through some old strip mine trails. I grabbed my collecting gear, a flashlight, and hiked down a path full of slick frozen puddles, until finally the horizon opened up, and a vast abandoned strip mine, now used as quad trails, lay in front of me.

It was overwhelming. Where would I start to scout for a decent fern layer? Should I go left, right, or straight? Since darkness was approaching, I decided to stay in the immediate vicinity. Soon I found outcroppings of the famous white ferns. Unfortunately, the ferns were packed so tightly together that a decent specimen was hard to find. Ferns were on top of ferns, which were on top of other ferns. This made the actual ferns barely recognizable, it just looked like white splatters on the rocks.

I quickly scouted the immediate area picking up samples here and there, and determining where the best outcropping for tomorrow's fossil siege would be. As darkness fell, I got out my flashlight and headed back through the woods to the car.

The next day, I awoke at a nearby hotel to find a thick blanket of snow covering everything!!! Foiled!!! I packed up and headed home, vowing to return another day.

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Images of the area and Fossils found

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Recommended Books

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Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution
by Dr. Richard Fortey, 2001

Dr. Fortey is a famous natural history writer from the British Museum of Natural History. He brings trilbites to life in this well crafted and enjoyable narrative. He merges science and history together to show us the big picture about trilobites. It's a nice read for anyone interested in Trilobites.

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