My Summer Vacation In Stone

By BD Bondy
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This Summer, one of the things we did was drive to Seattle and pick up our grandson to go to Wyoming. Our grandson, Milo, likes wildlife. He loves nature, and he’s really good with it. He studies all kinds of animals; salamanders, fish, birds. He likes looking for them too. And just so you know, he’s 20, so, not a little kid.

We took him to the Green River Formation in Kemmerer, Wyoming to go fossil fish collecting with some dear friends, Jim & Nada. Last year we met them there, as they also like fossils, and while there, the fossil fish capitol of the world, we stopped in a fossil shop that offered night digs. That business is called In Stone Fossils, hence the name of this article.

So for a year, we have been anticipating going on this night dig with In Stone Fossils, co-owned by Dean Sherman and his wife Stacey, and Garey and Lisa Lacey. I was very excited to be able to have this opportunity to do a night dig.

To begin, our first dig day was Monday and the four of us, Milo and I, and Nada & Jim, went to a ‘regular’ public type quarry called Fossil Safari. I highly recommend doing a dig like this if it’s your first time out. These quarries are open all day, provide the rock, tools, and instruction. We’ve been to the quarry next door called American Fossils, which I highly recommend. Fossil Safari was great, very much like American, they provide everything you need, including saws to trim your fossils at the end of the day. You find plenty of fish, and sometimes a leaf or a bug maybe. Some folks have found Stingrays.

Next day was Tuesday and we went to In Stone Fossils for a private day dig. It was very different. They provide lots of tools, and a couple guys to help, Ayden and Graison. Plus, we dig a part of the actual quarry. The fish fossils were better quality and more varied. This was still an upper level of the ancient lake, but it was a lot of fun digging out big slabs of rock and splitting them down looking for things. We found lots of fish, some palm, leaves, and maybe some plant like material.

​While here, the extremely enthusiastic owner Dean showed Milo and I a couple of other layers. He took us to the Mini Fish layer which is made up of very thin layers that come apart easily, literally just by pressing on it. They come apart like leaves of a book, very delicate and thin, often with small fish in them. Another layer he showed us was the Gastropod layer. While breaking out some slabs, he almost immediately came up with a large Phareodus fossil. A gorgeous fossil fish about 12” long. Another great day for us. It was so great in fact, we booked another dig just like it for Friday.

​Wednesday was the night dig, starting at 3pm. I know, not night, but we again met at their shop in town and they had a charcuterie board waiting for us with customized insulated water bottles with our names on them. The shop is beautiful, of course, with great fossils on display. After that we were driven back up to the quarry where we began taking out slabs of rock in what is called The Eighteen Inch Layer. This layer is more at the bottom of the lake formation.

The 18” layer is a primo layer where some of the best fossils are found. It is dug at night using spotlights to highlight shadows on the exposed rock surfaces. The light and shadows accentuate the bumps and other features that indicate the presence of fossils beneath.

It was a lot of work taking the chisels and working out slabs about 3/4” thick, and pulling them up and putting them aside to look at them later, after dark. We worked till 6pm and then stopped for a lovely dinner provided by In Stone Fossils. During the dinner the sun began to set and that led to some great pics. After that, we went back to work.

We found some good fish, but also, we found 4 great fish. There were 4 specimens good enough that warranted professional cleaning, or in their lingo, preparation. One of the fish was a Stingray. Dave, one of the fantastic guides we had, spotted it late in the evening. He was so excited. Apparently, it is rare to find a Stingray in the 18” layer.

​Around midnight we called it a night and began cleaning up to leave the quarry. The guides took care of everything, which included trimming and boxing up the fish. The Stingray was still in the ground and would require more work to carefully extract it. That happened Friday.

Thursday we slept in a bit and did some birding at the nearby Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge.

Friday, we went back to the In Stone Fossils quarry. We dug yet another great layer, called The Sandwich Layer, which is just below the 18” Layer. Again, Dave, Ayden and his brother Graison worked with us, pulling slabs directly out of the ground and splitting them. Some wonderful fish turned up, some bugs, leaves, and a good partial palm frond.

Meanwhile, Dean and Garey, along with Dave started working on the Stingray. It took a couple of hours but they got it out in one piece and we took turns getting our pictures taken with it.

I want to again thank everyone that works with In Stone Fossils for making this such a fantastic experience. And I want to thank the owners Dean & Stacey, and Garey & Lisa for making us feel so welcome. I look forward to seeing the 4 prepared fish fossils, which will take almost a year before completing. And I’m including contact info for In Stone Fossils, in case you want to do some digs with them. I can’t recommend them enough. Check out their Instagram site as well.

https://instonefossils.com
307-723-0969
[email protected]
@instonefossils

Thank you Jim & Nada for helping write this article. I could not, would not, have been able to do this without you. It was you two that found In Stone Fossils in the first place.