End of Phase I

 

All,

The unpredictable weather, the blizzard of people coming and going, and the rivers of amazing discoveries have kept me from uploading consistent lab notes to this page for many days. To boot, my phone vanished somewhere along the way, leaving me with no way to further document our progress on this page. As our excavation permits still await approval by the Bureau of Land Management we were only allowed to collect specimens from the surface or just beneath the surface. This prevented us from returning home with a marvelous cache of dinosaur skeletons. I am grateful for this inconvenience, however, because it forced us to continue prospecting for new localities which resulted in some of our most spectacular discoveries yet. These discoveries include numerous plant localities, more than a dozen dinosaur-bearing sites, and several associated or partially articulated dinosaur skeletons. Additionally, we discovered at least two of Barnum Brown's original dinosaur quarries from 1937. These old quarries are as amazing to find as a new dinosaur. They are reminders that we are following in the footsteps of the greatest dinosaur-hunter that ever lived. Every time we see one of his old pits or a piece of his old boards or metal cans we feel the twinkle of recognition and comradery for another bone digger whose obsession and endurance brought countless spectacular discoveries to the world. We are returning home today and packing up camp. We will return, perhaps even this summer, for a shorter duration. We have more specimens to excavate than there are years left in our lives. Me and the team are deeply grateful for the generosity and enthusiasm shown by you loyal donors and citizen scientists. You did not simply fund a scientific expedition, you helped facilitate one of the great adventures of our lives. This time next year we will have a lot to show you, and I cannot wait for you to meet the creatures that we have rescued.

-Ethan