Day 9: sand and hail

Yesterday we decided to explore the Lance Formation outcrops east of our normal field area. The Lance preserves the final ecosystem of dinosaurs that lived in western North America before the asteroid struck and changed the Earth forever. Unfortunately, the outcrops were more limited than expected which complicated our search. We found only a few bone fragments after several hours. We decided that we would turn our attention back to the Almond rocks for the day and ended up having to ascend some colossal cliffs of soft sandstone to reach them. As soon as we reached the top and began inspecting the geology, an enormous rainstorm came in and drenched our entire team in a deluge of rain, hail, and lightning. We were forced to run back down, repeatedly throwing our metal pickaxes down the cliffs to keep ourselves from becoming seared sirloins! We all made it back safely, but the weather kept us from exploring further. The Almond outcrops we discovered were very promising and will hopefully yield great fossils when we return tomorrow or the next day.