Labor Day weekend is traditionally reserved for my family reunion in Colorado. Usually, the time is spent reminiscing with family and eating too much food, and it is over before you know it. A couple of years ago, the turnout was lower than usual, which left a little extra time to do some exploring.
One of my brothers knew of a place just outside of town to go hunt coprolite (dino poop), so we made plans to go on Saturday afternoon. As the day progressed, a big thunderstorm started building up, and it looked like it was going to ruin our plans. Sure enough, it was a real gully washer, a hard rain, but it only lasted about half an hour and then moved on to the plains out East of town. Well, what better time is there to rock hound than after a brief rain washes the dirt off and exposes the treasure underneath?
After a brief drive into the foothills, we reached the hunt area and parked by the side of the road. Scrambling up the hill in the mud was almost more than we bargained for; it was slick, and the clay stuck to our shoes, so we gained weight with every step. We reached the collection area and found coprolite scattered all over the ground, so much so that we were able to pick and choose only the best of what we saw, leaving a lot more for the next rockhound. Have you ever tried to carry a bucket of rocks down a muddy hillside? By the time we got back to the vehicle, we were covered in mud that could be mistaken for fresh, rather than millions of years old, dino poop.
© Walter Beneze 2018
