Montana

The KT Boundary is the demarcation line left behind when Earth was hit by an asteroid causing the planet to become dark and a lot of life died out. It is made up of iridium rich ash. Dinosaur bones can only be found BELOW the KT Boundary since once the explosion occurred there were no dinosaurs left alive. Some scientists believe it was this explosion that caused the extinction of dinosaurs, other scientists, including Joey, suggest that the extinction had begun long before the explosion and this was the final straw to wipe out what was left. There are only a few places in the world where the KT Boundary can be seen due to erosion, and one such place is on a private ranch near the ranch they were digging on when I was there.

the dark lines exposed by erosion here are the KT Boundary

Linda standing in a field on a ranch with the KT Boundary showing in the far background

Joey's passion in life is being a paleontologist. He loves digging and discovering. He is one of those individuals who always knew exactly what he wanted to do when he grew up and he has known this since he was three years old.

Joey discovers a dinosaur bone protruding thru the ground

Joey at age 4, digging for dinosaurs in his sandbox

Joey receives a triceratops T-shirt on his 6th birthday

at age 8 Joey wrote this paper in a class at school

Joey shows off part of a T-Rex he found, look at those teeth!

Joey at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta

Joey and I took a ride out to Fort Peck Lake State Park one day. It is a popular fishing area. We passed by several other private dinosaur digs and research going on in the area.

Joey at Fort Peck Lake

Linda at Fort Peck Lake State Park

When it rains in the badlands the roads turn into “gumbo”. This is a local term used to identify the goop, which is a mixture of rain, dirt and small gravel. You cannot drive in gumbo. It is like trying to drive in wet cement and you WILL get stuck.

gumbo

rush hour on the ranch, cattle cross on a road of gumbo

Joey has a digging companion, his sweet dog, named Barnum. He is a Rhodesian Ridgeback named after paleontologist Barnum Brown who first discovered T-Rex right there in the Hell Creek Formation where Joey digs.

Barnum takes a break from dinosaur digging


Barnum tries to escape the heat by finding a spot in the shade

Joey is followed by his faithful companion, Barnum. Notice how much greener the badlands are in this photo taken by David on his visit as compared to the brown badlands in the earlier photos I have shown.



I will end my blogging on Montana by telling you about the Hell Creek Bar. One of 2 bars located in the little town of Jordan, the beautiful dark cherry wood bar inside is depicted in the movie Jurassic Park 3. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Jordan and my dinosaur digging experience. For anyone interested in making this trip go to the website for more info: http://www.paleoworld.org/

Paleo Joe

(again notice the greener background)