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Post by paulshiroma on May 5, 2013 19:29:20 GMT -5
When I was a little boy there were some large tracts of undeveloped land across the street from my parents house in Walnut Creek. As a kid, that was a natural playground, with hills, large oak trees and lots of area to explore. Many a Saturday, I spent roaming around those fields and hills, climbing trees and seeing what was around the next valley. Along the way, I noticed that the sandstone had fossils! Imagine that excitement in a 10 year old on discovering that fossils could be found, literally, across the street. I did a lot of digging on Saturdays and during Summer break and picked up a lot of stuff. Between then and now, it went into storage and finally saw the light of day some 35 years later while Barbara and I were cleaning out the garage. Here's a few photos.        Reverse side of these rocks     Thanks for looking. Paul ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM 5/6. Dredging through some additional boxes I found these. Large clams:   One of my "prizes". Enough detail left to show the worm trails on the shell and the "scalloped" edges on the bottom edge.   Several I found were complete clams:     Various smaller pieces:  Never figured out what this was. It almost looked like mother of pearl and it was quite common up in the hills. I kept one sample for the collection:  Edge on view, showing the layering:  Anyway, thanks for looking. |
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keystonecops
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2010
Posts: 957
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Post by keystonecops on May 5, 2013 19:37:18 GMT -5
Awesome  Sprised Fossilman aint chimed in. Later Clyde |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,492
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Post by Sabre52 on May 5, 2013 19:43:17 GMT -5
Great fossils! We used to go up on Mt, Diablo and there were some great fossils up there too....Mel
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2013 19:51:02 GMT -5
Cool finds. You brought back many memories of Walnut Creek, we use to go there all the time to hike and explore. There use to be that neat area with a swimming hole and cliff jumping, we use to hang out in the summer time. I hear rumors long ago that there was some type of Dino fossil up there, all I ever found was cars shoved off the hill side. I suppose it is all home's know. :-(
Tim
Tim
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Post by paulshiroma on May 6, 2013 21:47:06 GMT -5
Thanks guys. We visit my parents regularly and although there are still some hiking trails in the area, most of the land is all developed. Quite sad.
Glad it could bring back memories for you all!
Paul
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on May 6, 2013 22:24:07 GMT -5
Never been there, but that is a great batch of fossils! Thanks for sharing.
Sent from my phone.
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Post by jakesrocks on May 6, 2013 22:51:54 GMT -5
Great pics and fossils. The sandstone cliffs at Solano Beach used to have similar fossils. Wish I had been into fossils as a kid.
I think I can see a partial trilobite in one of the pics. It would be fun to carefully dissect one of those death plates.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 7, 2013 8:20:31 GMT -5
Thanks for checking out the thread, guys. The area around my parents place now includes a large park called, appropriately enough, "Shell Ridge Open Space". Huge area with lots of hiking trails. Of course, now that it's a park, you can't be arbitrarily digging around for fossils. The plus side is, that it's well maintained and the trails will take you all the way to Mount Diablo, if you want to hike that far (six miles or so).
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718 
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Post by Fossilman on May 7, 2013 10:12:14 GMT -5
Nice fossils,really like the "death plates"!!!!! OUTSTANDING!!!!!!
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on May 7, 2013 15:45:11 GMT -5
Great material. Last summer I sound a bunch of neat stuff at Capitola in central Calif.. Hope all is well.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2013 17:03:56 GMT -5
Fabulous!!
Just a question. If the fossil is the remains of an oyster (looks like it to me) why can't it be mother of pearl?? Hell, it may not even be a fossil but an actual shell instead.
You got two lucky kidlets there Paul!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 9, 2013 13:07:02 GMT -5
Thanks for checking out the thread, guys.
Shotgunner - I imagine it could be mother of pearl. Or part of a larger shell. Maybe eventually, I'll get around to taking it to someone who can ID it.
BillG - doing okay, thanks for asking.
Fossilman - thanks, buddy!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on May 9, 2013 15:16:21 GMT -5
Great pics and fossils. The sandstone cliffs at Solano Beach used to have similar fossils. Wish I had been into fossils as a kid. I think I can see a partial trilobite in one of the pics. It would be fun to carefully dissect one of those death plates. I've been around fossils my whole life..Seen tons of them as a kid but was to brain dead to figure out that they would be worth saving or investing,like my Uncles were doing...LOL Typical kid,huh....LMAO.. Yes Paul,the memories do "FLASH"....Thank you!!!! ;D ;D :drool: |
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Post by paulshiroma on May 9, 2013 21:50:30 GMT -5
My Father got me into a lot of this when I was young, showing me the various fossils at the local museums. We also went on one huge rockhounding trip that I'll never forget: We flew out to El Paso, TX and walked over the border to visit the local rock shops in Mexico. At the time, that was what my Dad and I knew and MAN did we have a good time.
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on May 10, 2013 15:50:56 GMT -5
When I was a kid, people who went to Mexico came back with firecrackers and switchblades.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 10, 2013 21:44:59 GMT -5
That was good, Bill! I'm sure you can come back with much great firepower now! LOL!
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Sprised Fossilman aint chimed in. Later Clyde
