Houston, the Eagle has landed....
I took the day off on Friday (27th of April) to hit the GMR before the virgin trip to Lee Creek the following day. The late morning weather was becoming clearer the further east I traveled with some sun poking out as I passed Raleigh. Then as soon as I crossed Interstate 95, the gloom and doom started to show its ugly head. The forecast wasn’t looking good and that was evident as I enter Pitt County. Rain…..as soon as I crossed under 264 and entered Greenville, the sky came crashing down. This was the type of rain that makes some drivers pull over to the side of the road. I eased off the gas and put the wipers on high and slowly made my way to Elm Street Park. The rain was still coming down but not as heavy as I donned on the waders. As I quickly crossed the playground area bridge I could see that the water from the tributaries already made there way to the Run. I put in at the 10th Street Bridge. (Thanks whoever tied that 20 foot plus truck / tow strap leading down to the put in area).
The water was churning as I carefully made my way down stream where I was the last time screening. I put my probe on the side of the bank to keep an eye on the water level. In about 15 minutes the creek went up a good 6 inches. Knowing from past experience not to fool around with GMR at “high tide”, I didn’t want to trip and end up floating down to the Tar River. The water was coming up fast and the stumps I took note while walking down stream were no longer visible. As a result, I made my way back to the 10th Street Bridge doing the geriatric shuffle (rumor has it that 3 BRF members took a drink in the Run with one lucky member an additional dip on Sunday – your secret is safe with me…lol).
The only “safe” area was the third tunnel under the 10th Street Bridge which was high and dry. I resorted to shoveling primarily sand / small pockets of gravel for about 3 hours. No great teeth except for a 1.25” posterior goblin. The only other notable find was a worn tympanic bulla being reserved from my nephew. I looked at how high the GMR was, sighed and hoped this rain wasn’t a bad omen.
As I made my way to the hotel in Washington dodging black clouds, the radio announced that a tornado crossed Interstate 95 in Cumberland County. I gave DW a call and luckily all was good on their end. Later that night I met up with the “gang”….DW, da fossz and the brothers to show some of my Kentucky / Tennessee finds I brought for DW.
My stomach was taking a turn for the worse and I was trying to figure out if it was the Sonic burgers I ate (I know… adulterist, should have went to Taco Bell), a panic attack from the excitement of my first trip to Lee Creek or my soon to be second cancelled trip or if it was a case of Giardia I picked up at GMR. I decided to call it a night and retired to my room. I slowly drifted to sleep only to be awaken by some chanting. I could have sworn I saw DW, da fossz and the brothers wearing Taco Bell fire sauce “war paint” while dancing an anti-rain dance in the parking lot below.
I awoke the same but a couple cups of coffee, a banana and a partially clouded sky seemed to cure my ailment. I followed the gang to Lee Creek and met some of the other BRF brethren. The dig was on. I was going to follow the gang but ended up following a guide with Govinn and MikeDOTB to get skooled on the formations. We led the pack of hunters and made our way down the ramp to enter the site. My heart was pounding and it felt like my Ibanez bass was reverberating in me. Boom….Boom….Boom… And with the vastness of the area a song from The Police came to mind. “Giant steps are what you take… walking on the moon…. I hope my megs don’t break… walking on the moon.”
After a quick schooling the group parted ways and I ended up working some areas of Yorktown. Bones were everywhere, but unfortunately no megs. My finds were pretty pathetic… oh what the hell, I’ll say it, they were pathetic, especially after seeing 3 of the 4 reports from the “gang”. It’s sad when someone else’s “discard” pile is 10x more than your teeth haul.
But on the brighter side I did find my biggest Mako to date (2” plus), shammer though it is. I believe I was having more fun collecting verts for myself and the nieces / nephew Christmas package. Anything that caught my fancy I staged on top of my hill by my “Greenhorn” green bucket including clam shells and cool looking phosphate nodules.
With every compartment / space in my two backpacks and 5-gallon bucket filled to maximum capacity, I made my way back to the bus. Now I know why I came up with the avatar Brachiomyback. I think I exceeded the recommended dosage of Motrin the following day.
I would have loved to have found more teeth. But now that I got the “first” trip out of my system, hopefully my second will be more fruitful. At least the BRF group got in that day. My other brethren of the ECFC got in on Sunday only to be pulled out an hour later.
I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible. I had an absolute blast. Who could ask for more, I got in, had a safe trip and got to put faces to the names of other BRF members…..well maybe just one meg.
enjoy.
…..words can’t describe those “mega-machines” at the mine….. just mesmerizing to watch in action.
Brad
aka Brachiomyback