I had intended to write a second installment of my Big Bend trip before this....but sometimes higher priorities work their way into your "gameplan"...The Bride had two Day surgeries since my return...she is doing great, but I am playing the role of Chief Nurse Houlihan ...well maybe just Corporal O'Reilly....Needless to say everything else has taken a back seat.
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| Big Bend, By My campsite. (c)2017Horst Kelly Photographer |
I did fix my(its dead honey) Lawn Tractor...knowing my limited skills, the Vegas odd makers gave me a zero percent chance of being able to get it started, much less mow a lawn....Just to let the Naysayers know, this morning I cut the Lawn....all 2 1/2 acres of the..... :)) Also piddled with the camper and other meaningless stuff.
Ahhh, now back to my Big Bend Trip. One of the things I wanted to get into a post was that Big Bend is a Haven for geologists. There is more diverse fossils/history of the Earth concentrated at Big Bend than any other place in America...maybe the world. It is a geology treasure trove that spans 130 million years or so. To give you a short introduction that puts into perspective far better than my ramblings, below is a short article ...your history lesson for Easter.
Article is written by Amy Atwater, Paleontology Intern and posted in The Paisano, The Big Bend Newspaper.
"One hundred thirty million years of geologic time is preserved at Big Bend, one of the longest and most complete sequences of geologic time in a national park. Big Bend is also the only national park with rocks crossing the K-Pg boundary which marks the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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| Mule Ears(c)2017Horst Kelly Photographer |
So it is not surprising that there is an abundance of fossil fi nds here at Big Bend. In fact, over 1200 diff erent species have been found, and some have been found only at Big Bend.
Signifi cant Fossil Discoveries in Big Bend: • Horned dinosaurs such as Agujaceratops mariscalensis and Bravoceratops polyphemus. The Fossil Discovery Exhibit currently has the only Bravoceratops specimen on display. • Long-necked sauropod, Alamosaurus sanjuanensis. This large dinosaur grew up to 80 feet (24 meters) long. • The pterosaur, Quetzalcoatlus northropi. This was the largest known fl ying creature of all time with a wingspan of 36 feet (11 meters). • Duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur), Gryposaurus alsatei. A partial skull, vertebrae, and limb bones were found along with Big Bend’s fi rst and Texas’s
second dinosaur skin impressions. • Mosasaurs (large, predatory marine reptiles) found at Big Bend may represent the oldest North American mosasaurs ever found. • Giant alligatoroid, Deinosuchus, was discovered by famous paleontologist Barnum Brown in 1940. This prehistoric alligator could grow up to 39 feet (12 meters) long. • Eighteen stumps of 2 species of fl owering tree (Metcalfeoxylon and Agujoxylon) were found in their original growth positions. This “paleo-forest” allows scientists to determine the height and density of the ancient forest by measuring the distance between the stumps and their diameter. • Mammals such as the brontothere Megacerops, the early mammal Coryphodon, as well as the “dawn horse” Hyracotherium have also been found at Big Bend."
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| Big Bend(c)2017Horst Kelly Photographer notice tips of mtns through clouds |
There is a Museum of sorts ...it is free and is for the most part an Open Air exhibit...but worth going to...IMHO. I guess I'm just one of those "romantics" who looks at the ground I'm standing on and wonders what or who else stepped/stopped at this exact spot thousands or millions of years ago...I'll never grow up....there is a difference between growing up and growing old. Growing old is kinda mandatory, growing up is optional. :))
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| Terlingua, Tx(c)2017Horst Kelly Photographer |
I'm guessing that this post is long enough...I will do one more in a week or so as a wrap up and my thoughts on the increase of visitors to the Park and other observations....
I have posted some more photos. Here is the link, folder number B has the new stuff.
Appears you need to click on the photo twice to open up the folder. :(
Big Bend Photo Albums 2017
Happy Easter to all and safe travels. Horst sends
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| A little Slice of Heaven, Big Bend(c)2017Horst Kelly photographer |
