Picto Diary - 05, 06 September 2018 - Cleveland-Lloyd
Note: No entry for 5 September 2018.
Above: KAT at Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. Emery County, UT. 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
KAT: "And I thought my bones were old." — atCleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.
Above: Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. Emery County, UT. 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
Having just completed reading Brusatte's "Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs," I thought a visit to Cleveland Lloyd would be far more interesting... now that I had context...than my first visit there 20 or so years ago. The visit to Cleveland Lloyd also complements recent (within the last two years) visits to other paleontology sites: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon; Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho; and, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming. I also read Elizabeth Kolbert's, "The Sixth Extinction,"' last year.
Quarry Visitors Center. KAT stands by our two motorcycles. Mine: Ducati Multistrada. KAT's: BMW K1200 RS.
Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Emery County, Utah, on the northern edge of the San Rafael Swell, contains the densest concentration of Jurassic-aged dinosaur bones ever found. Over 12,000 bones (belonging to at least 74 individual dinosaurs) have been excavated at the quarry.
Over half the bones are from the predator Allosaurus. Some Stegosaurus (plant eaters) bones are also at the site.
Bones are contained in hardened volcanic ash/mud. An explanation for their presence at this spot is still pending. One theory says the animals were killed in a 1000 year flood and washed to this spot. Soon after their death they were covered with volcanic ash. Over the eons, later after layer of ash, then lake bed after lake bed, covered their remains. Much later, tectonic activity exposed the quarry.
The quarry was discovered in the late 19th century. The first excavation was performed by paleontologists from the University of Utah in the 1920's.
Currently working the site is a group of paleontologists from the University of Wisconsin. It was for 100 million years between the mid Jurrassic and the end Cretaceous that the dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Allosaurus looks a lot like T-Rex yet they never lived simultaneously on the earth. Allosaurus had disappeared as a living species by the late-middle of the Jurassic. T-Rex didn't rise to the top of the food chain until mid-late Cretaceous, eighty million years after Allosaurus left the scene.
Trying to comprehend geologic time makes my head spin! — at Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.
Above: KAT riding BMW K1200 RS motorcycle in Castle Valley. Emery County, UT. 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
KAT riding BMW K12 RS. Castle Valley and Hiawatha beyond. Distance: Wasatch Plateau.
Looking west northwest.
Today: Motorcycle three-fer.
1. Dirt. 25 miles. Castle Valley.
2. Twisties. Indian Canyon; Wolf Creek Canyon.
3. Destination. Cleveland -Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.
Round trip: 320 miles.
Route:
Heber
Provo Canyon
Provo University Avenue
I-15
Spanish Fork Canyon
Price Canyon
Elmo
Dinosaur Quarry
Price
Indian Canyon
Duchenne
Wolf Creek Canyon
Kamas
Park City
From a "motorcycling" point of view, today's trip was excellent. Roads were all in good shape.. no tar snakes in Indian Canyon or Wolf Creek Canyon. Traffic was minimal, but, for Spanish Fork Canyon. Temperatures were cool at start, in the low '50's but in the 70's for most of the rest of the way. A bit of rain in Indian Canyon, but blue skies could be seen beyond the thunder cloud, so we rode it out. The drone note of the Duc was as addictive as ever.
Note: Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is at the northern end of the San Rafael Swell, a giant (100 miles by 50 miles) "pimple" on the earth, raised by tectonic activity sixty six million years ago... about the end of the Cretaceous.
I've never read that the "swell" has something to do with the Yucatan comet that ended the Cretaceous, but the timing is interesting, if not suspect.
The San Rafael Swell is the subject of controversy today. The enviros want to turn it into Wilderness, banning motorized activities, grazing, energy exploration, etc.
On 09 May 2018, Senator Orrin Hatch and Rep. John Curtis introduced the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018 (S.2809 in the Senate and HR 5727 in the House) which will open even more of the Swell than is currently the case to multiple uses. Pick your side.
Above: Groggs. Helper, UT 06 September 2018.
Lunch,
Ribs.
Above: Bamberger Monument. Simon Bamberger. US 191. Carbon County, UT. 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
Always a favorite Utah stop in the "obscure Utah" category of stops.
US 191 between Helper and Duchesne.
Little known, obscure monument honors Simon Bamberger, UT Governor from 1917 to 1921. Utah's fourth, and only Jewish, governor.
Above: Main Street, Helper, UT. 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
Helper was named for the extra "helper" locomotives trains required to move Utah's coal. There is a very interesting train museum in Helper chronicling the history of Utah's coal industry and coal trains. Helper is not in "Carbon" County for nuttin'.
Before the turn of the 20th century, there was "mining Utah," and "Mormon Utah." Mormons colonized the Wasatch Front and mountain valleys with potential for agriculture. Catholic and Orthodox immigrants from Italy and Greece came to Utah to work in the coal mines of Carbon and Emory County. Descendants of the early mining immigrants still live in Helper, Price and smaller Emory County communities near the coal mine.. Orangeville, Huntington etc.
No time to stop today, but I'll return. Town has been spiffed up since the last time I was in Helper downtown 15 years ago. And, its time to revisit the railroad museum. — in Helper, Utah.
Above: Sage Brush Cafe. Tabiona, UT (Duchesne County). 06 September 2018.
Out and about on the Duc.
20 years ago, while motorcycling, I stopped here. I ordered a cheeseburger. I asked the forty something, hardened, saucy waitress, what kind of cheese she had. She glared at me for a moment, and then said haughtily, "yellow!" Two seconds later, she burst out laughing. — at Sage Brush Inn Cafe.
Addendum:
Steve,
Thanks for these reviews. I copy all and paste in Notes for reference. I plan to retire next month. I am building a reading list.
Cheers,
Panama,
Los Angeles, CA
Dear Steve,
Have been (need I add 'of course') fascinated by dinosaurs and such since childhood - weren't we all? In my case of course nothing to with The Flintstones, my excitement came from a book - Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" - and then of course much later when we learned about just how long ago they were, and what an end they came to. I remember much later than my exposure to Doyle reading an early article about the Chicluxub Event - they didn't call it "chicluxub" then, or even an event - and recall how speculative the whole Alvares Hypothesis was when it first came out.
Thanks for an excellent review and summation of what seems to be a very worthwhile and entertaining as well as educative read. Must pick up a copy. Cheers!
Best,
Cheeta,
Vancouver, BC
Steve,
Have you read The Sixth Extinction? Great book!
The Bohemian,
Reno, NV
Yes. Enjoyed it. Forwarded you my review under separate cover.