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Aurora Fossil Festival
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Unfortunately I did not get a chance to meet any other BRF'ers (except ScubaPaul, whom I already know) at the festival. If you were at the auction I was one of the helpers for the marathon-long auction.
Sunday's trip to the mine proved to be very exciting. A "new" area had been opened a few weeks earlier and we would be between the reclaimation and the drag lines.
The morning started off nicely with a 4" meg (beaten up a little, but still a 4" tooth) and my better half finding a 3" (majo... |
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Aurora Fossil Festival
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Aurora fossil festival 2006. It was great to see many friends again, and really nice to meet many new people as well. Among the fellow BRF members, I got to chat with blackwaterdiver and meet his ‘babe-age’, talk with M4, and got to hunt GMR and work with rivrdigr this weekend as well.
Anyway, the festival went well and there were a bunch of volunteers. PCS was very good to us once again and allowed those that gave time to help with the festival access to hunt. With the rain that has come... |
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Otodus or Auriculatus Sighting at PCS???
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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This past Sunday was my last scheduled work day in the mine.
My girlfriend and I headed off after the safety briefing and made our way to an area we had not visited this season.
We found a good Yorktown hill and began the slow process of late season collecting. The hill would not dissapoint us. We found narrow and broad form Hastalis teeth, a composite scute from a thorny skate (only 2 of the 6), 2 unidentified whale teeth, a dozen or so cuviers, and more meg parts than we could count. ... |
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BRFC Day At PCS
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Our little group of hunters was granted 5 slots by the supreme slot-giver-outer and we used every one of them. Aurora is too good to waste any opportunity to go in. I had no delusions that this trip would be as productive as last month's, but I was excited nevertheless. The forecast was for heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon, and we hoped it would hold off long enough for us to get a full day of hunting in. Its a long drive up there! Anyway, the mostly cloudy skies made for great collecting co... |
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BRFC Day At PCS
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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With my back and hamstrings still letting me know how much they did not enjoy the time we spent sifting GMR yesterday, we boarded the bus for the Aurora hunt. Upon arriving, it was easy to see how much the reclamation area is closing in on the hunting grounds. It was clearly visible from the edge of the pit, and as Rivrdigr wisely noted, it also is raising the water levels which removes other areas from access – ditchweezil and I actually walked to the end of one of the roads were the stakes ... |
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BRFC Day At PCS
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The day started off at the bus area signing papers before entering the mine. I met rivrdigr for the first time who was showing off his nice little great white he found at GMR the day before. Then the BRFC hoped on to the bus and on the way to the collecting area we went. I was a newbie to the mine and found myself only familiar with collecting teeth from the pungo and I wasted a lot of time hunting over the james city formation and I couldn’t really tell what the yorktown formation looked lik... |
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Get Low, Go Slow. The Reclaimation is Advancing
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The reclaimation is advancing on the southern end of the pit/collecting area. With that knowledge the decision was made to enter that side before it's too late.
There is plenty of good Pungo material in that side of the pit and I've been dreaming about finding a nice chubutensis or big hemipristis. We picked a direction and headed off. The mantra for the day was get low, go slow. I have a niece and two nephews so any tooth I find goes home with me and ultimately into their hands. I was f... |
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Don’t Let the Footprints Fool You
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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This past weekend was the 3rd collecting weekend at PCS this season. If you’ve been watching the weather you’ve noticed that we have not had any appreciable rain in quite some time.
With the lack of rain and the number of hunters the fossils should be getting difficult to collect. The fact of the matter is that there are still plenty of easy teeth to scoop up. Just don’t let the footprints fool you. Many collectors this past Sunday were dismayed to see the sheer number of footprints on th... |
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Onward Carcharocles Soldiers
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I have been going to PCS now for several years. I never got to partake in the glory days that the old timers always reminisce about. But ask any of them and they will always say that a bad day collecting in Aurora is better than a good day almost anywhere else. I always wondered why they said that because my experience there, though always decent, has never topped my 'good days' collecting in good ole South Carolina. What can I say, I've been spoiled by great collecting. Well, ladies and gentlem... |
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Onward Carcharocles Soldiers
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Saturday morning finally arrived and I drove out to the PCS meeting area trying to keep my right foot from pushing the peddle through the floor. I arrived at the parking lot at about 6:30 which gave me plenty time to chew the fossil fat with the other hunting lunatics. It’s always great talking fossils with people who collect in different areas of the country and hearing about their experiences. We boarded the bus and while the ride to the collecting area is only 3 or so miles, it seemed like an... |
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Onward Carcharocles Soldiers
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The anticipation was finally over for myself and the South Carolina toother extrodinare, Ditchweezil. A road trip and subsequent fossil hunting trip at the PCS mine in Aurora NC was just what the fossil doctor ordered to cure my fossil woes.
First, thanks to all the staff at the Aurora Fossil Museum for their hard work to arrange us fossilers mine access.
Well, our road trip was a march of 5 hours to Washington. We both were up late...errr…due to our excitement of the upcoming hunt. A la... |
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Christmas in March
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Any oppurtunity to collect at PCS is always welcome , no matter if it's at the beginning of the season or the end. Although the opportunity to collect the opening weekend is always sweeter. When I got to the parking lot and found out that they expanded the collecting area to almost the whole pit, I couldn't get on the bus fast enough. On the bus ride over I just happened to sit behind scubapaul. Luckily he had his name on the back his hardhat or I wouldn't of had the pleasure of meeting him. On ... |
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Christmas in March
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Opening weekend at Aurora...not much fills my head with more
anticipation for quality finds. I had heard from my 'insiders' that they were
going to push a new ramp into the pit - always a good thing and that
the area had been expanded from last season. When we arrived at the
parking lot it was pretty chili for those from Michigan and frickin
freezin for those from the more southern states. Everyone was bundled up
tight and hoping the wind would die down and the sun would come ... |
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A Trip To The Aurora Fossil Museum
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I headed down to North Carolina on Thursday night, family in tow, to meet with our builder on Friday and Saturday. We finished early on Saturday and my wife was going to spend the remainder of the day showing the area to my sister-in-law while I entertained my kids in the hotel room. Seeing that the three of us couped up in a hotel room all day might not be the most bond developing experience, we decided to rent a car and take a day trip. Lets see, NC, day trip, kids, - The Aurora Fossil Museum!... |
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The Lee Creek Shuffle
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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After reading the reports from the previous weeks finds at PCS I couldn't wait for my turn. It seemed to take forever for the week to pass. The daily ritual of checking the weather channel and hoping for torrential rains during the week before my trip never came about. The morning of the trip I ended running late. Luckily there wasn't a trooper in sight. I made it just in time for the reading of rules,and on the bus we went. The collecting area was alot larger than last seasons, but with no rain... |
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4 for m4!
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The opening of the Aurora Fall season - it's like the start of football season, the only reasons to look forward to the fall when you live in Michigan. You get to see the usual gang again, everyone eager with anticipation for the hunt. Before we start you have to quickly scan the intended area and choose your spot. I picked out my hill, looked to be entirely yorktown and was two hills over with water in the way. I said 'hey' to M4 as i zipped out into the mine when the starting gun sounded. ... |
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4 for m4!
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Well, the long wait for a trip into Lee Creek was worth the wait for M4. Although no 4"+ megs made their way into my goodie bag, the pungo crawl that I implemented yielded the bounty I desired - Squalodon teeth – and nice ones!!! I’m confident that at least one of the incisors is in fact a "tusk" tooth – the very last tooth that sticks straight out of their jaw. The molar is missing both of its roots but the crown is complete and in great shape. The crawl also yielded my best pungo mako ever.... |
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The Best Laid Plans...Part II
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I woke up to an overcast morning and was at the GMR parking lot by 5:45 AM. I put my waders on and proceeded to walk across the ballfield. By the time I was half way across, I began to recognize the sound of gushing water. As I approached the foot bridge I could see that the trickle of a stream I had collected in the night before, had transformed into a fast moving river - rejected!!!. There was no question that the 4-5 ft rise in water level would put the kibosh on any GMR fossiling today. I hu... |
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Aurora Fossil Festival trip
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Well, it's been a long time since I was able to get out and collect and no place better to break a slump than at Lee Creek!!! Now, I did not score huge Megs like many who were in town assisting for the Aurora Fossil Festival but I did find some neat things. A few nearly complete chubbies, a squalodon incisor - love those marine mammals!!! - a scute, two 2" makos and two cool little pathological dusky teeth. Lots of little stuff too and tons of porpoise verts. Not a bad day.....
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A Day In The Trenches at Aurora
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The drive down to NC from Calvert took about 6 ½ hours and it down poured a good portion of the way. Visions of three inch tall pedestals with five inch Megs perched on top danced through my head. I checked in at the hotel affectionately known by DW as “The Roach” and carried all I could in one trip, through the rain, up to my room. My stay here last year wasn’t so bad, but then maybe I was unknowingly upgraded to the presidential suite. As I approached the door to my room, I could immediately s... |
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A Day In The Trenches at Aurora
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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A rare alignment of the planets has brough forth a heretofore unheard of event - the combination of the birthday fossil hunt with the spring visit to Lee Creek. The birthday fossil hunt brings with it special privileges from my extremely generous and understanding wife. I was going on a two day fossil bonanza with my long time fossil hunting pal da f0ssZ. We arrived at the hotel at 10:30 Friday night, and within 5 minutes of checking into our room, we saw two mega roaches. da f0ssZ summarily dis... |
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A Day In The Trenches at Aurora
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I met up with BC, DW, and DF at PCS ready for some serious tooth hunting. I was totally stoked to see DW sporting a HATEBREED hat. The man has taste! Like the reports said, the collecting area was covered with James City. The collecting was nothing like it was in 1996, the last time I collected there. After finding some productive areas, I hit my knees and hunted 12 inches from the ground the rest of the day. I found several hundred shark teeth before my back gave out. I found a whale sha... |
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A Day In The Trenches at Aurora
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Well, it was time once again for the semi-annual PCS fossil hunt at Aurora NC. DW headed up to Columbia so that I could work late on Friday to keep the man happy. As I made my final preparations, DW scoped out the newly modeled fossil room in my loft. After about 10 minutes, I was ready to go and DW had placed his gaping jaw back into position. Of course, when I hunt in Summerville, I suffer the same paleo-jaw dropping every time I see DWs choice fossil collection. We arrived at the chateau-du-... |
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Opening weekend at PCS
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I set out for the opening weekend at PCS, even though I was going in on the second day I still had high hopes since their was plenty of rainfall over the winter. The collecting area had been scaled down and 90% of the exposed layer was James City (Yuck). I did manage to find a nice cow shark tooth and a couple Mako's. I also brought home a bucket full of whale and dolphin verts. I couldn't go home empty handed.
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The Phos-foot
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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da f0ssZ and I made our bi-annual pilgrimage to Aurora, NC. We had high expectations since we were going into the pit. df had the pedal to the metal the whole way up. I had never been before, and my only comparison were the piles. We had a spoil pile primer on Saturday evening as well as some inside info from Scubapaul, and we found it difficult to sleep. The moment finally arrived as we stepped foot into the pit. It was a huge area, and it was very easy to become disoriented. There were great P... |
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The Phos-foot
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I had not been collecting since DW and I braved the murky waters of the Edisto last July. What a trip to end a dry spell....PCS. The news was this would be an opportunity to collect in the pit itself. Thanks to PCS for allowing us to collect, and thanks the Aurora Fossil Museum for all they do.
Anyone who frequents BRFC knows that a trip to PCS means Road trip. I picked up DW on Saturday and we began our journey to the famous collecting grounds. So that we could collect some on the piles, I... |
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Spring 2004 Fossil Hunt at Lee Creek, Aurora NC
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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The Aurora Fossil Festival was today, and it was great seeing so many people out and about. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello. Anyway, after the fossil auction, a few of us volunteers went to Golden Corral. They had tacos on buffet, so technically its not blasphemy. Anyway, m4 was with me, and while he was up filling his plate again, George Powell walks into the room. I waved at him and he started walking my way. "How are you", I said as he rounded the table to sit in ... |
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Madman Across the Pungo
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I headed up to da f0ssZ's crib so we could ride together on the bi-annual pilgrammage to Aurora, NC, home of PCS Phosphate and some killer fossil collecting. DF gave me the personalized tour of his fossil room just before we left to whet my appetite. Looking at fossils is always a good warm-up for hunting for fossils. We all have our rituals, whether we notice them or not, but mine actually started last night when I watched the Discovery Channel special on prehistoric sharks that features PCS. A... |
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Madman Across the Pungo
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Well, it was that time of year again, the PCS fall trip. I had been eying the weather for a few weeks, and after the passing of Hurricane Isabel, I thought maybe some nice teeth would wash out. I quickly called Ditchweezil to see if we had secured the same day. Luckily, we both got in the same day and another road trip was in order. We both left the wife and kidz at our respective cribs due to the probable fossil marathon we we would undertake. DW made the ride to my house, and I lead him on ... |
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Spring 2003 Aurora, NC - Day 2 - PCS
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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We arose around 6 to find that it had rained again while we slept. If we were ever going to find something great at PCS, today would be the day. We were the first group in (besides the teachers that I mentioned yesterday, anyway) and it had rained buckets since the last serious collectors had hit the collecting area. We arrived in the parking lot a little after 7 where we talked to people and picked up a few teeth off the ground just in case! I met all kinds of new people that day, as well as... |
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Spring 2003 Aurora, NC - Day 1 - The spoil pile
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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Da f0ssZ and I got spots to go into PCS on Sunday, and we thought that it would be cool to leave a couple hours early so we could arrive in NC while it was still light so we could hit the Cox crossroads spoil piles. The ride up was 5 hours of gleeful anticipation at what would await us at the piles AND at the mine on Sunday when we would be the first group to walk the hallowed ground. Our spirits were lifted when nearly every river we drove over was flooded above their banks. That could only ... |
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PCS and a Road Trip to Remember
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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This last saturday, my wife, thA duDe, da f0ssZ, j of the golden shovel, mrs. of the golden shovel, and I went to Aurora. But when you live in SC, you don't just "go" to Aurora. There is 6 hours of driving involved. ROAD TRIP! Our first noteworthy stop came in the Myrtle Beach Fuddruckers. If you've never heard of it, its the best burger joint anywhere in my opinion. We parked and saw two Klingons smoking outside the front entrance. Ok, so they were people dressed as Klingons, but its just as... |
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My Pilgrimage to Fossil Mecca
Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina, USA |
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I've been excited about it for months, and the day finally arrived when I could collect on hallowed ground - the PCS mine in Aurora, NC. We arrived at the parking lot at about 8 and struggled to keep warm, but at the same time, you could feel the excitement as grizzled veterans traded war stories of collecting seasons past. Everyone knew that somewhere out there, there were megs, and we all had an equal chance to find one. We piled on the bus at 8:30 and sat through the lecture - stay away from ... |
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