Touring with the Tyrrell--Dino Tour 1997

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

I had the privilege of being a part of the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s first Dino
Tour, June 13-22.  We began in Calgary, then traveled to Drumheller, Dinosaur
Provincial Park, Eastend, Saskatchewan, Devil’s Coulee, Head Smashed In
Buffalo Jump, Yoho National Parks (Burgess Shale), Lake Louise, Banff and
many other dino lairs.  Our guides were Michael Ryan and Martha Dunsmore of
the RTMP, augmented by days spent with Dr. Philip Currie, Darren Tanke, Dr.
Bruce Naylor, Dr. Donald Brinkman, and Dr. Paul Johnston.  It was a wonderful
trip, with total immersion in all things dinosaur and paleo.

We first drove to Drumheller to see the museum.  Our group was escorted by
the director of the museum, Dr. Bruce Naylor.  He showed us behind the scenes
of where they prepare the bones and the exhibits, where they are stored, etc.
 The technicians were finishing the mount of a Velociraptor, and we studied
that closely.  The museum has spectacular exhibits, very well done.  The new
Lost and Found section is fascinating, with no hint of the speed with which
it was put together.  A funny highlight is the latex Triceratops dung pile,
with holes to stick your hands in (“reach in and describe what you feel”).
 We also attended a black light show on the Burgess Shale.

The next morning, we went back to the museum to look at field jackets and the
preparation of fossils, then went with the Day Digs staff to Horsethief
Canyon. We dug into a little hill where they had already found hadrosaur
bones and other bits and pieces, and we were successful in finding even more.
 A warm and windy, but great day.

The next day we went to Dinosaur Provincial Park.  We met Dr. Philip Currie
at the Field Station, along with his fiancee Dr. Eva Koppelhus, a
paleobiologist.  They graciously guided us on our hike into the restricted
areas, where bones were literally covering the ground.  Any other place where
one would just pick up a rock, there it would be dinosaur bone.  

It was very windy, and I had to hold my hat on.  One time I let go to reach
for my camera and my unfeathered, but aerodynamically sound, hat soared part
way down a cliff.  Dr. Currie climbed down the cliff and got it!  Everybody
cheered, and I got the damsel in distress award.  After that, though, I made
sure that my hat was securely tied on.  (It is bad form for Dino Tour
participants to endanger a world-famous paleontologist.)

We saw areas which were housed over to protect the fossils, or had a sliding
metal door over them.  Two of these were the Corythosaurus which had been
excavated by Charles Sternberg, and the Centrosaurus bonebed, which were
being excavated as time permitted.  The Corythosaurus has wonderful skin
impressions preserved.

Then back to the Field Station, which is a miniature version of RTMP.  I had
told some of the people in my group that a friend of mine worked at the park,
and he would be joining us later.  Darren Tanke met us there, and I
introduced him around.  He showed us the exhibits, then we went to the
historic Patricia Hotel for great buffalo burgers and steaks.

After dinner, we went back to the Field Station for a slide show and lecture
by Dr. Currie.  He is an excellent, natural speaker, and in person just as
likable and brilliant as he is on the dinosaur documentaries.  We also toured
the lab areas of the Field Station with Darren.   One other note about
Darren--after the group met him, at every stop we made thereafter, some
mention was made of Darren Tanke by the paleontologist or guide.  Darren even
was prominently featured in two of the videos which we saw on the bus.  My
group was impressed to have met the great man in person (and also to meet Dr.
Currie)!

The following day, we drove into Saskatchewan to see Scotty, the T. rex.  Tim
Tokaryk showed us through the interpretative center. We saw the bones and how
they were preparing this fine predator. The matrix surrounding the bones was
extremely hard, and it was slow and meticulous work to extract the fossil.
 We hiked to the excavation site and toured that.  I asked about evidence of
face biting on Scotty, and Tim said there was none.  He also said that he had
named a bird after Darren.  We then headed to Medicine Hat for the night.

The next day, we toured the interpretative site at Devil’s Coulee.  Dr.
Donald Brinkman met us there, along with Wendy Sloboda, who had originally
found the dinosaur eggs and nests.  (You will recall Dr. Brinkman for his
work with fossil turtles and the naming of the Early Cretaceous _Sinemys
gamera_.)  Several nests had been found, of hadrosaur and hypsilophodontid
eggs, some with embryos inside.  They had excavated a large nest and were
painstakingly removing the egg shells.  We then went to the Devil’s Coulee
Egg Excavation Site.  The shells were broken, but they were all over the
ground.  We hiked through the area, finding turtle shell pieces and egg
shell.  Also, there was a nearby reservoir lake, and we hiked down to see if
we could find pieces of bone from a new type of ceratopsian.  Bones were
literally sticking out of the ground or weathering out on the shore.  We did
find some ceratopsian frill pieces, so the trek was both fun and a scientific
success.  I found a carnivore tooth, plus assorted little pieces of probably
hadrosaur.

The next day we took a side trip to visit Michael Skrepnick’s Mesozoic
Wildlife Studio.  (Michael S. is a friend of Michael Ryan’s).  He was just
finishing a painting of two Sinosauropteryx prima in a forest
setting--absolutely stunning.  We also saw the original drawing he had done
of the feathered dinosaur while in China.  Dinosaur art at its very best.

On to the Calgary Zoo, where they have life-sized dinosaur models displayed.
 They aren’t anatomically correct, but still interesting to look at.  A guide
from the museum took us around, and there were great camera angles for
snapping T. rex against the Calgary skyline.  While there, the invertebrate
paleontologist from the Royal Tyrrell met us, Dr. Paul Johnston.

The next day (Friday), we drove off to the high country, with Dr. Johnston
commenting on the spectacular geologic formations along the way.  We went to
Field and saw Emerald Lake, which is fed by glaciers and snow melt. They have
invertebrate fossils such jellyfish, trilobites, Marrella, Anamalocaris and
Hallucigenia.  (This is in the Burgess Shale formation.)  We couldn’t go to
the main location, since it was snowed in, so we did an alternate site for a
hike.  It was about an 8 kilometer hike, rather steep going up..  At the top
was a waterfall, snow fields which we hiked across, and more shale in which
to look for fossils.  Great fun, even though we didn’t find anything (unless
moose droppings are significant).  We hiked down much faster than we had
hiked up, and then stopped along the roadside to look for more fossils.  The
shale there was sideways, and you could peel off layers of it with your
fingers.  We uncovered quite a few fossils there, including a trilobite and
many Graptolites.  I found myself walking along the side of a big hill, then
looked down at how high up I was and decided I had better get closer to the
ground before I slid there.

We then checked into the hotel and had dinner with Dr. Johnston.  He had so
many funny stories about fossil hunting in the Arctic, where they had to
carry a gun because of the polar bears, the adventures of flying in and out
of  the area in little airplanes, etc.  One of the wonderful benefits of the
tour was that we were able to spend a great deal of time with the scientists,
including lunch and dinner, and getting to know them on a casual, friendly
basis.

The next day (Saturday) we headed for Moraine Lake, which was so beautiful,
surrounded by tall mountains capped with snow.  There were signs posted to
look out for bear, and we saw a moose just off the side of the road.  We also
went to Lake Louise (pretty but too many tourists milling about).  We stayed
a while, then went to Banff, which is really touristy, with motor homes
filling the streets.  We left there in the late afternoon and drove back to
the Calgary area.  

That night we all went to see The Lost World, which I still didn’t like.
 After all, we had seen REAL dinosaurs.

On Sunday morning, we went to the museum in downtown Calgary to see the
western exhibit and the geology and fossil sections.  This was the end of the
tour, and it was sad to say goodbye to the people I had spent 10 days with,
as we had become like a family.

Next year’s tour is expected to go to dinosaur sites in Utah and Colorado,
and I can hardly wait to go.  Dinosaurs, digs, hikes, fossils, the outdoors,
and people who share your interests.  

All in all, the 1997 Dino Tour was fabulous fun--couldn’t have been better.
 Oh, Canada!

Mary
mkirkaldy@aol.com