Fieldtrip Report:
Fossil Trip, Ontario, Canada
April 10th, 2005
by Andrew FergusonSunday was one of those glorious spring days we have here in Ontario, so I took the family to an area about 30 minutes away called "Rock Glen"
This conservation area is known mostly for its waterfall (about 30 feet at the base of the first pool) but it is also well known for the large quantity of excellent Devonian fossils that can be found there. The main structure is shale which is basically clay right now, so any fossils collected around the falls are very fragile, but this is also where the Trilobites will be found. The less fragile fossils are found along the creek as it works its way through a Carolinian forest to the Ausable River (great for Rainbow trout at this time of year).
Having been here before, my sons had their goals set before we arrived; Lucas my oldest wanted to climb the rocks but also planned to find a lot of fossils, Matthew my elder twin just hoped the clay slides would be good this year and Jason my younger twin wanted to find "cool" rocks and to climb the rocks that were too big for him the last time. As for my wife and I, we just wanted a pleasant afternoon and hopefully stay away from the hospital at the end of it (I admit though I was hoping to find some quality fossils). Working our way down to the falls base, Lucas and I went right to the cliff wall and tried to find some trilo's (never found a really good example here but have found some pieces and lesser quality). We didn't find any and the wall was still really moist so wasn’t the best area to be in. Matthew let out a whoop and yelled for his brothers to cross over to where he was. Anticipating a great fossil find, I followed my two other sons over (at a slower and safer pace then my mountain goats did) but was disappointed once I got there. I do have to admit though; the dead muskrat was pretty cool. After spending an hour or so at the base rock scrabbling and looking under shelves and boulders for hidden treasures, we all started working our way down the creek. I decided to stay on the muskrat side as it is usually the easiest route, my sons headed straight down from rock to rock, small pool to small pool (oh well, their shoes would dry eventually). My wife Helen decided that the opposite side would be easier (based on all her backpacking experience) and I agreed with her when I was fighting through brambles but was justified when she found one of the clay slides accidentally and ended up in the creek anyways. We checked out the rock beds at each bend and were lucky enough to find some great quality Brachiopods and some horn corral. The problem here is we don't want to take everything we find but don't want to leave the best ones either. It is tough reaching a decision when you’re squatting at a creek side with 3 kids running to you constantly with shouts of "Dad, I found another! Look at this one!" We worked our way all the way to the river and decided to stop for our picnic lunch on the river bank. Of course I still had my eyes moving over all the rocks and stones looking for the now familiar shapes. I did manage to find an ideal flat stone to mark the grave of our beloved cat (we had been hoping to find something since the cat passed away last year, the piece of concrete just didn't give her grave the dignity it deserved) Upon showing this to everyone and all had agreed it was perfect, I quickly realized that I was the one who would have to carry it back out (it suddenly didn't seem that perfect, but it did go in the backpack). Once lunch was finished we decided to start downstream to locate some hidden smaller waterfalls that we had read about. We didn't find any but did find the ruins of an early hydro dam and of course more brachios and corral. Since the park closed at 6, we decided to head back up through the woods to the main falls. Lucas, Jason and I struck out following a set of deer tracks that weren’t there on our way down hoping to catch sight of it, while Helen and Matthew stuck to the trail. We didn’t see the deer at all which is understandable with the noise the 2 boys were making talking excitedly about how cool it would be to catch up to it. Once back at the falls we went through our collection deciding what to keep and what to leave and then halved our keep pile again. All in all this was a great day and ended with 3 very tired and dirty yet happy kids and 2 very tired and dirty yet happy adults.
Here are some pics of the falls and of the fossils we brought home. In the falls photo, Lucas is the one half hidden at the back, Matthew is the one saluting his mother and Jason is the one up front.
