Search and Rescue Report |
2/3/2007 |
| I had so much fun collection the pseudo coprolite of Salmon Creek I had to go back and this is my 3rd trip for me in as many weeks. After my first trip to the creek I spent some time checking out maps looking for access to the upper part of Salmon Creek. With more information in hand I headed out last weekend with my wife. We followed Salmon Creek road until it ended and hiked a few hundred yards down to the creek. Almost immediately I began to find some nice material but I could see footprints from someone that was there the day before and probably found the prime pieces. We visited a few other sites and found some outstanding material.
Back home I checked out aerial photos of the area Deborah and I collected but didn't see the bridge over Salmon Creek where we collected. I noticed another small tributary called Cougar Creek and I was pretty sure that's the creek we were on. With rain in the forecast I wanted to visit the area again so Larry, Jerry, Steven, Frank the dog and I headed back to the area early this morning. Steve, the dog, was unable to make this trip. On the last trip Steve got into a dead fish and ended up with Salmon Poisoning Disease (A parasite called Nanophyetus salmincola that's infected with a rickettsial organism called Neorickettsia helminthoeca). Steve is taking antibiotics and a full recovery is expected. It was a quick 200 yard walk to Cougar Creek (East of Wilkes Hills) and 600 yards past it we hit Salmon Creek. It was overcast and in the lower 30's and ice covered slow moving areas of the creek. Collecting was good and we decided to head up stream to see what else we could find. We hiked up stream about a mile but the siderite nodules were few and far between but agate material seemed to be everywhere. Carbonized wood poked out of exposures of the Wilkes Formation along the stream but no nodules of siderite could be found. We headed back down stream to the area we started from. We had to cross the creek several times, which was deeper than expected. It started to rain but I wasn't done yet. I talked the rest of the group to hike down Salmon Creek to the Cougar Creek then follow Cougar Creek out. After about 600 yards we found Cougar Creek that entered Salmon Creek by way of a great looking, 40-foot water falls. At the base was a very large gravel bar and we filled our pockets with more siderite and agate material. We found a trail that leads to the top of the falls and started following the creek out. We hit a few gravel bars and found some of the best poop looking siderite nodules of the trip. By the time we reached the trucks it was raining pretty good and the temperature was 37 degrees. Larry was the only one of the group that made it out without getting his feet wet but we were all cold. Happy with the day's findings we headed home. I weighed my treasures at home and had 38lbs of siderite and agates. I found three times as much agate material as I had on the previous two trips and doubled my pseudo poop collecting. NARG Members: Larry Purchase, Jerry Rawdon, Steven Bland, Andrew Bland, and Frank the dog |
Trip Pictures |
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| Getting ready to head down to Salmon Creek | |
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| Larry Purchase, Andrew Bland, and Steven Bland on their way to Salmon Creek | |
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| First stop | |
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| Notice the icicle? It was cold | |
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| Turn around point on Salmon Creek | |
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| Andrew collecting on Salmon Creek | |
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| Steven and Frank the dog at the Cougar Creek waterfalls | |
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| Andrew, Steven, and Larry | |
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| Another view of the waterfalls | |
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| A fine pile of agates | |
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| A fine spread of pseudo poo | |
| ©2004 NARG - North America Research Group |