This could be our last adventure at the site you've seen on these Sharktooth Hill "Adventures" pages.  We showed up one morning and started digging.  Later that day, we learned that the entrance to the property was fenced over.  After only minor panic, we found another way out.  We suspect the property was sold (or acquired by the city or other government agency) and will soon be off limits.  It's a shame, but we knew it was coming.

On this last adventure, we spent four days, found some great teeth and got a major work-out.  John started the trip recovering from a cold.  It's amazing he lasted the whole four days we were there.  But he's an "ate-up," "ditch-diggin'," "fossil-lovin'," maniac.

Above/right is the beautiful scenery we had while we were there.  On the left is the unimproved road, where we parked.  On the right, most of the way up the hill, is the trench we were digging in.  To give you some perspective, the trench is about 4-5 feet deep.  This valley was a monster to traverse during our time there.  We carried all of our equipment down into the ravine, then up the hill to the trench.  After a half dozen trips each day for 4 days, our butts were dragging.

We had an interesting digging partner this time.  The first day we saw a large flock of sheep graze along the hillside.  One of the sheep became separated from the flock.  It apparently felt more safe with us than fending off coyotes on it's own.  For days, it grazed just a few hundred feet from us and slept even closer.  If we could just train it to sniff out meg teeth.

To give you an idea of how this work is done, let me show you pictures of work a friend did next to us.  

On the left is the "end" of the trench you saw in the picture at the top of the page.  As work continues, the trench will eventually extend along the entire hill side.  Right now (in the picture) the over-burden has been removed and the fossil layer is exposed.  For a better view, I moved to below the dig site for a close-up (center picture).  The arrow in the center picture points to something resting on the fossil layer.  The right picture shows you what it is.  That large shark tooth came to rest in the silt, millions of years ago and has now been discovered.  Perhaps it will be worn on a necklace.  Maybe it will be added to a fossil collection.  I hope it will encourage an aspiring paleontologist to see beyond it's beauty and wonder how it came to rest in a Bakersfield hillside.

Below is a picture of the teeth we found one of the days we were there.  This was one of our better days.  Some days we did more work clearing over-burden.  Other days we were able to collect the teeth that were exposed.  Over-all we were very pleased with the productivity of the trip.  Also, I was able to buy and trade for some nice teeth that will soon be listed at the web site.

Click to enlarge.

Take care.  See ya later.