Franklin

A large crew of BPS members and guests headed to northwest Alabama this month, in hopes of finding crinoid heads and trilobites. Well, we found both! We left Birmingham expecting a high of 50, however, that must have been in the wee hours of the morning, as the temperature hovered in the mid-30's all day. Brrr!! But that didn't keep the fossils inside, nor did it deter detemined fossil seekers.

Our first stop was a roadcut where numerous specimens of coral were found, many too large to carry home.

The second stop was another roadcut, where numerous pieces of archimedes were found, a few horned corals, and even a whole crinoid head!

At stop #3, our primarly collecting location, a lake in NW Alabama, fossils were litterally laying all over the ground. Almost every rock was covered with weathered out fossils which stood in nice relief, and many had weathered out totally, so that individual specimens could be found by carefully examining the ground. At this site, numerous blastoids were found, archimedes, two types of coral, crinoid stems, trilobite parts, and Jan N. found a tiny, complete, rolled up trilobite! On a side note - the trip photographer had a difficult time organizing a group picture, and did not manage this feat until stop #3
- imagine trying to control a herd of cats who see FOOD, and you have a good idea! But it was finally managed with only 2-3 missing (already in action, hunting those fossils!).

Our last stop of the day was a different location on the lake, where similar items were found as at stop #3, and also some larger corals and crinoid "legs".

As it got colder and colder, people were calling for warmth and food, so we made our way to an out-of-the way steak house where we continued to talk about fossils and visit until our bellies were full, and finally after a wonderful day spent with like-minded friends, we left for home.

(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)