The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has some of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful badlands I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. Because much of it is still unexplored almost every new dinosaur find is a new species -- incredible!
Below are some photos from the trip. Enjoy!
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The interpretive center at Bigwater. The building is shaped like an ammonite but this is only visible from the air.
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Scott Sampson explains it all.
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Mike Getty from the Utah Museum of Natural History & Alan Titus give a tour of a hadrosaur specimen in the Wahweap Formation.
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Hadrosaur skin impression from the Kaiparowits Fm.
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A fossilized tree in the Wahweap Fm. The root ball is at the left and the tree is pointing down the palaeostream.
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Alan Titus uncovers skin impressions from the Kaiparowits Fm.
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Some of the skin impression that Alan uncovered. Note that Larry Witmer's business card can double as a scale bar when flipped over -- a nifty idea!
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Dave Gillette talks about his beloved plesiosaurs.
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Dr. Don Henderson from the University of Calgary.
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Scott Sampson and Mike Getty at a microsite. One of the best parts of the trip was the opportunity to get caught up with Scott & Mike after much too long a time.
Photos © Michael Ryan. Click to enlarge most photos.