digit Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 My wife and I will be visiting family in northern California in about a month. We're going to film Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Park which has been on my bucket list for a few years. While we are there we are thinking about renting a car and driving down to Bakersfield to check out Shark Tooth Hill. I've seen all sorts of gorgeous shark teeth that have come from the Ernst Quarries and thought we'd try our luck. It's only a 4 hour drive from San Carlos and it seems like a good excuse for a roadtrip. We are complete neophytes to fossil hunting at Shark Tooth Hill and could really use some input to make this trip reasonably successful. I'd love to bring back some micro-matrix from this site and I'm considering bringing my screens and schlepping back some heavy suitcases. Currently, the day we are looking at going out to the quarry would be Friday, January 22 (exactly 1 month from today). Any TFF members who are familiar with this fossil hunting location care to give any tips? Anybody with a flexible enough schedule care to join us on a dig this day? Would love to meet-up with some west-coast TFF members if possible. Looking forward to some input about hunting this locale. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElToro Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I live in Australia so obviously have never been there, but a mate of mine was passing through and when he asked a local how to get to Shark Tooth Hill they were very rude and told him nothing. So do you recon before you go. "That belongs in a museum!" - Indiana Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Some of the more seasoned folks here will have good advice, but it is worth dragging a screen or two along and a small shovel that you can fit into your suitcase. I drove when I went, so I could fit big tools in the car. And it is certainly worth the 4 hour drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Hey-hi Ken, Sharktooth Hill (the Ernst quarries) is a very fun place to hunt, with many beautiful teeth to be found. I recently answered a similar query and to save some typing will direct You to that thread...http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/59918-shark-tooth-hill-help-east-quarey-vs-slow-curve/ If You have any unanswered questions please let Me know and I will try to answer them. Tony PS I would love to join Y'All there but do not know if I can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 We thought about flying down from northern California in my brother-in-law's plane but it will likely be less complicated to make the 4-hour roadtrip (we've got lots of podcasts to listen to on our travel iPod). I've got one smaller sifting screen I made up a few years back. I may take that and a larger (oversize) square of window screen mesh. Rather than using double stacked sifters I can sift out the larger material with the compact 1/4" mesh sifter onto the square of window screen. Then I can sift the finer micro-matrix in the window screen mesh by grabbing it by the corners and rolling it around. I've done this before while cleaning dried micro-matrix back at home. I also have a stainless steel mesh colander that might work just as well. I'll bring lots of zip-top bags so I can triple-bag my micro-matrix and ballast my suitcases up to the 50-pound limit (handheld digital luggage scales are an invaluable tool I never travel without). QUESTION: Being a complete Shark Tooth Hill noob, is there any particular place where it would be best to collect some micro-matrix? Any place we're hunting for larger fossils or are some areas known for better micro-fossils? ElToro, I'm definitely trying to do my recon before I go. The starting point is the website of (I assume) the only publicly accessible quarry in the area (The Ernst Quarries). Their website is quite easy to find online: http://www.sharktoothhillproperty.com/ According to their website they are only open selected dates during January and the only days that fit into our tight schedule are Friday and Saturday. It appears that the East Quarry is considered a "premium area" and as that is available only on Friday we figured we'd shoot for that over the general admission of the Slow Curve area. I admit to being a complete novice to this location and for all I know the East Quarry may require more tools or effort than we can muster coming in from out of state so I'm at the base of a learning curve which I'm sure will be flattened out with the help of local TFF members. I've just seen Tony's post above and will shortly be absorbing the knowledge from his included link. We're looking on making the drive down the night before and finding a cheap local hotel so we can get started reasonably early the following morning. We'll hunt for the day and then make the long (caffeine-aided drive back north in the evening). We'd love to meet-up with any other TFF members who'd be interested in showing some noobs the ropes. We've found that local knowledge from amicable TFF members always results in a fossil outing that far exceeds our expectations. If Friday limits member's ability to join us then possibly the Slow Curve location on Saturday along with TFF members might prove more fruitful (and fun). I've got just under a month now to choose the day (and quarry) as well as to bone-up (pun intended) on hunting Shark Tooth Hill. I do so love new experiences (and the planning and learning involved with them). Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) Hey Ken, There is a layer called "the bone bed" that is easily recognized. The majority of the fossils are in that layer, but can be found up to 18 inches above that zone. I collect My micros from the same screens that I search for the macro material, they are in the same layer. Tony PS Wishing Y'All good hunting on Your trip!! Edited December 23, 2015 by ynot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Hey-hi Ken, Are You still planning to go to Sharktooth hill? can You do 2 days? Tony Edited December 31, 2015 by ynot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Not this time around. This trip will be a short roadtrip (along with seeing the Elephant Seal rookery Año Nuevo State Park) while visiting my sister-in-law's family in the Bay Area. The whole trip is actually pretty short (less than a week). We decided it would be fun to try a quick one day hunt down at STH just because we would be in the area (a 4 hour drive) and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I suspect we will have a blast as this will be a different type of shark tooth hunting than we are used to--dry and dusty as opposed to standing in waist-deep water. Assuming that this merely whets our appetite for more of this hunting, we'll likely plan a more extensive multi-day trip sometime later in the year (when my schedule permits) and we'll stay in Bakersfield and base a few days of hunting from there. Currently, we're scheduled to drive to Bakersfield on Thursday, Jan 21 and do a full day of hunting on Jan 22 (heading back north in the evening). If any TFF members have a schedule that is flexible enough to go hunting on a Friday, we'd love the company. Otherwise, we'll try to plan a get-together later in the year and extend it over a weekend to make it easier for others to meet-up. Plan on taking the camera with and will (hopefully) remember to take lots of photos to give others on TFF a virtual feel for what hunting is like out there. Looking forward to the trip. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Ken, not wanting to throw a wrench towards your gears, but you may run into some rain at that time (El Nino year). If you do, you will probably be confined to only being able to dig the Slow Curve location. When it rains there, the silt ground quickly becomes a very slick claylike consistency and will prevent you from getting any traction on it. Rob closes off the road to the more distant sites ( East Quarry, Snake Pit, etc.) due to inaccessibility. The road to Slow Curve is paved. I'm letting you know this as a just incase scenario. I do hope you have nice sunny weather for your trip. I have only dug at Slow Curve once since Rob "took down the mountain" digging half day at East Quarry and the last half at S.C., I got 90% of my teeth at the Curve that day. caldigger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 Thanks for the heads-up. We may try a split day as well starting in the East Quarry and finishing at Slow Curve Premium--assuming the weather has not altered plans. We're a month into "dry season" over here in South Florida and it's pouring down rain at the moment. The Peace River is still a tad too high to really consider hunting here. Fossil hunting, possibly more than other outdoor activities, can be very weather dependent--you just got to roll with it. Unless it is a monsoonal downpour in Bakersfield I'm sure we'll get in some time there and have fun for our first experience at STH. I expect we'll come back later in the year for a dedicated follow-up trip to truly get our fill (at least temporarily) of this unique fossil hunting opportunity. Fingers crossed for dry weather--though I won't begrudge California its rain. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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