In a conversation with Jerry, one of my suppliers out of Albu-quirky, he spoke of fossil hunting down near Socorro, New Mexico, about 130 miles south of Santa Fe.  Apparently he and his 2 young sons had collected several 1,000 of them.  Easy, right ??  The weather this weekend was clear, and had warmed up to almost freezing, so I jumped into the mighty Diesel Dodge, and roared south.  Got there fairly late Sat. afternoon, and had no luck, tho’ I was sure I’d followed Jerry’s map correctly.  Called him on the handy dandy cell phone that night, and confirmed I was in the right spot, and resolved to work harder on Sunday.  This is pretty country, with crystal clear skies…………

Cold crystal clear skies.  It dropped to 13º F. Sat. night, and around 5:00 AM, the camper’s battery died from the load of the almost constantly running furnace.  I burrowed into a mound of bedding, and after daylight crawled out into a 40º camper.  Needless to say, I dressed in a hurry ! ! !  (I have since learned that I could have started the truck’s engine and the alternator would’ve powered the furnace and warmed things up.  Oh well)  It was too cold to do much, so I ran into Socorro to look for a warm restaurant and a hot breakfast.  Nope.  McDonald’s was it, and I haven’t stooped that low yet, so went for a bird hunting run to Bosque del Apache (Bohs-kay dayl Ah-pah-chay) and got a shot of these ducks.  What kind are they, anyway ??…………

After daylight, it warmed up fairly quickly to 33º, so I headed back to the digging grounds.  Wouldn’t have been so bad, but there was a strong, steady, icy cold wind in this thin air at over 5,000 ft altitude, and I bundled up.  Up the hill to some nice, fossil-y looking rocks, and started playing convict - making big rocks into little ones………..

On my geode hunting trips a few years ago, ( http://www.webpictures.homestead.com/geodes.html ) I found that a hoe moves more dirt faster and easier than a shovel, and is much easier on my pore ol’ back.  I moved lots of rock in a hurry - it helped warm me up……….

No fossils yet, but it’s early days, right ??  Keep on digging………

Oh, yah, Jerry said to bust the red rocks.  OK, farther up the hill, and these are redder - and bigger………

…….but still no joy.  OK, OK, higher on the hill to redder rocks and bust ‘em some more.  Dig, Lar, dig, dammit………..

This was fun an’ all, but gawdamn, but it was cold.  That thin, icy wind never let up.  The gaiters on my lower legs are to keep the dirt out of my boots, same as on the geode trip.  I was sweating inside the jacket and my ears were getting frostbite.  This is fun, right ??  I lasted for about 3 hours, and finally said “Phooey” on it.  Or somesuch.  Partial compensation was the terrific scenery and clear air.  This is looking west over Socorro (armpit of a town) to the San Mateo Mountains.  Beautiful………..

On the way home, I could see the Santa Fe ski area and Santa Fe Baldy clearly from over 80 miles away.  That’s clear air, folks ! ! !  Cold clear air. 

What ??  The fossils ??  Oh, Yah, the fossils ! ! !   Well…….didn’t do too well.  Found one puny one, but I sure busted a lot of rock for it.  Looks to me like a multi-million year old aspen leaf.  Thar’s millions of ‘em outside my door, and a lot fresher…………

Oh, well, maybe next time, eh ??                    Lar.

P.S.     I’ve since found out that Socorro is a college town and has many nice restaurants, etc……….but they’re a few blocks off the main highway and I completely missed them.  Maybe not so bad a place after all, eh ?? 

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: October 29th, 2009 under 07 New Mexico, 07-3-3 Socorro Fossils.
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