For many, birthdays are a mixed bag as no one wants to be reminded of their slow, daily crawl toward senescence. I say, who cares about approaching senility, let’s start the party! Despite that attitude, my birthday falls amid much summer hecticness, which means it gets overlooked by most. However, my fantastic hubby and some of the other terrific people in my life more than make up for anyone else’s lack. Here’s how Jason and others compensated in 2023.
Due to the proximity of our birthdays, Jason and I decided a couple years ago we’d alternate which of us gets a birthday gathering with friends each year. Nevertheless, he immediately escaped from that plan by instigating a small outing with a few buddies to Red Door Escape Room in honor of me in a year that was supposed to have no such honoring. That boy! We did a double breakout with Once Upon a Time, the location’s second-easiest room, and The Gift, its second hardest. We got out of one but not the other. Our defeat wasn’t altogether a skill issue though, a key that was supposed to drop out of a cuckoo clock at one point got stuck, a fact we were not aware of, halting our progress. Our game master failed to notice this as our time diminished. Sure, I’ll blame it all on that.
The birthday celebrations proceeded with Jason and I enjoying a dinner at Bambara, which had recently reopened after a remodel and menu switch. I won’t say no to baked Alaska! That brings me to my actual birthday.
On my birthday, Jason made me chilaquiles for breakfast. Then, continuing our gluttonous trend, we stopped at Caputo’s Market and Deli for lunch on our way to hike Mount Van Cott. Mount Van Cott is short for a Utah peak at 6,351 feet. Normally this would be a downside, but with snow lingering in the higher elevations after our robust winter, it was a plus. Mount Van Cott is located just beyond the University of Utah and was named for Lucy May Van Cott, the first Dean of Women there. Given this mountain’s proximity to Salt Lake City, you’d think it would be crawling with people, but we only saw four humans at a distance during our climb.
Mount Van Cott provides an urban overlook rather than majestic mountain scenery.
Did we like the hike? Yes, with some reservations. The many trails crisscrossing and circling the area made staying on the correct path tricky. We arrived at Cott’s apex with the help of some online GPS maps. The route we ended up taking wasn’t what we’d planned, but it got us there with four miles of hiking total.
That night, my sister and some of her family came over for Thai takeout. Besides all that, which should have been enough festivities for even the biggest birthday divas, I had a celebratory lunch with a friend the day before my birthday, and, following my birthday, I had two more. One of these was at the park, a beloved tradition that began during the height of COVID and has outlasted that uncertain time.
Birthdays can become demanding, even for the gastrointestinal system, and the timing of mine increases that potential. However, good food, beautiful scenery, outdoor moments, brain-stimulating activities, and hanging with friends will always be appreciated no matter how decrepit I get.
There’s a lack of information about Fossil Butte National Monument online, probably because there’s a lack of tourists visiting it. I like tourist attractions that lack tourists, so I am going to share my experience and advice about this one.
Fossil Butte National Monument is near Kemmerer at elevations between 6,600 feet and 8,000 feet. Why does that matter? Studies have found that for every 1,000 feet of altitude you ascend, you gain an 8-10% increase in ultraviolet ray intensity. Translation? Expect to get more sunburned at Fossil Butte.
The electrolyte and fluid makeup of the body changes at higher altitudes prompted in part by hormonal alterations and fluid metabolism modifications. These changes can lead to increased urination. Translation? Dehydration is more likely at Fossil Butte. While I feel I should share those cautions, they aren’t the inconveniences we noticed most at the monument. The mosquitoes, on the other hand, we definitely noticed.
Sego lilies grow in the high desert.
The average amount of time a visitor that’s “really into fossils” spends at Fossil Butte, according to Trip Advisor, is 40-45 minutes. We spent nine hours there. Does that mean we are completely bonkers about fossils? Maybe, or maybe we just don’t have TikTok-sized attention spans. Either way, if you like to explore, it’s easy to spend a day at the monument.
At the monument’s visitor center, impressive fossils are on display. There are even coprolite exhibits in the bathroom. If you understand why that’s hilarious, this monument should be on your must-see list. There are also ample opportunities to learn at the center. We went to a ranger program, If Rocks Could Talk, and watched a couple short videos on the park’s fossils and quarries.
Afterward, we went hiking on a few of the monument’s five trails. There is next to no information on the internet about the hiking trails in the park, so here’s my contribution to online knowledge. There are two maintained trails in the park, the Fossil Butte Nature Trail and the Historic Quarry Trail. The park’s three unmaintained paths are Cundick Ridge, Eagle Nest Point, and Rubey Point. Here are the deets on the three paths we did… and another great opportunity for me to remind you to bring your DEET.
Fossil Butte Nature Trail
We were expecting this trail to be overly tame and lame, as “nature trail” is often code for a route that barely qualifies as hiking. Instead, we found a delightful path through an aspen grove and up a sagebrush steppe that was draped in emerald and rainbowed by ample wildflowers. We counted 34 distinct flowering species as we climbed, including sego lily, larkspur, flax, arnica, and Indian paintbrush. The trail is 1.5 miles and leads to a viewpoint overlooking the monument. While it is short, it heads uphill for a significant portion of its length, making it a decent workout. The mosquitos are persistent in a few sections, even in the middle of the day, so spray yourself down! This was our favorite of the hikes we completed at the monument. It was also the only footpath there we saw other people on. We came across two groups on it. So crowded! Not!
The Fossil Butte Nature Trail was brightened by over 30 kinds of wildflowers.
Cundick Ridge Trail
Although we couldn’t find much information on the unmaintained trails in the monument, we decided to attempt one of them. All three paths are on old dirt roads. Two, Cundick Ridge and Eagle Nest Point, start at the same spot and later branch. Rubey Point begins just a few minutes from the others. We drove by all three, and Rubey looked more overgrown, so we opted to try one of the others. As we began walking down the road for the other two, we commented that it was in pretty good shape for an “unmaintained” path. That opinion didn’t last.
The Eagle Nest Point fork looked overrun and faint, so we opted to head toward Cundick Ridge. Although the path remained obvious during the entire hike, sections were being reclaimed by tall grasses very successfully. The trail passes a power station or cell tower or something along those lines about a third of a mile from its end. After that, it becomes much less distinct, probably because the only vehicles that have traveled it in years have come to access that technological apparatus.
Fossil Butte has a singular look, which can be appreciated at the endpoint of the Cundick Ridge Trail.
The overlook at the terminus of Cundick Ridge, a windy endpoint, provides extensive views of the area. We saw no hint of humans from that vantage point or anywhere in route, which was a plus.
This trail is mostly flat, with just a few small hills. If you want a laid-back, secluded path and don’t mind wandering through vegetation, this could be a great option for you. As I have some issues with grasses, my calves became itchy from brushing against them repeatedly, but the reaction was manageable. Although the monument’s website claims this path is two miles, it turned out to be 2.5. This was the only hike we did at Fossil Butte on which we didn’t get bombarded by mosquitoes, probably either because of the higher elevation, wind, or lack of water.
Historic Quarry Trail
This hike is 2.8 miles if you include the spur to the quarry, which I’d recommend doing. If you are intrigued by the history of fossil collecting in and near the park, this is a terrific trail choice. If you hate mosquitoes, you may like it a little less. They swarmed us in certain spots undeterred by our layers of repellent.
This quarry was only utilized for three years before the formation of the monument in 1972.
The quarry accessed by this route was excavated for three years prior to the creation of the monument in 1972. The path also passes the tiny cabin of a fossil collector named David Haddenham who made a living off that pastime for 50 years starting in the 1910s. Plenty of informative signs and the chance to visit a genuine quarry make this a compelling path. Like the trek before, we encountered no other hikers.
This small A-frame cabin was built by fossil collector David Haddenham in 1918 for his seasonal fossil hunts.
Fossil Butte is fantastically uncrowded. If you prefer a peaceful hike to a flashy one, this might be your kind of place. I’d plan for more than 45 minutes though… like 8 hours and 15 minutes more. And don’t forget the repellent!
Thus ended our outing to Kemmerer. If you are the curious sort, it’s a magnificent place to go fishing.
As a Christmas present, I gave Jason a day of rockhounding for fish fossils at American Fossil near Kemmerer, Wyoming. I know, pretty fishy. We took this trip in July of last summer. During it, our main destination, American Fossil, wasn’t our only connection to the past. At Fossil Butte National Monument, we connected our brains and feet instead of our hands, which will be covered next time. For this portion of the post, let’s dig into American Fossil.
American Fossil is a privately-owned quarry located where the depths of Fossil Lake existed for 2.5 million years some 52 million years ago. The remains unearthed there come from life found in and around that lake, and a lot of those remains remain. Over a million fossils have been excavated from the greater area, the majority uncovered in perfect condition.
Why did so many fossils survive at Fossil Lake? It is believed that Fossil Lake had a layer of saltine water beneath its fresh water. The deeper parts of the lake may also have contained poisonous hydrogen sulfide. These factors would have prevented scavengers from consuming the carcasses of animals that fell to the lake floor, giving them a much better chance of being preserved.
Sharp tools and rocks, along with an overabundance of sun, made it a rough day for our legs.
The elevation at American Fossil’s quarry is around 7,000 feet. So, even in the middle of July, temperatures are doable but not necessarily pleasant. The high was 82 degrees the day we visited, which was a whole lot nicer than the 97 degrees back home. However, with heat reflecting off rocks, a sunny and still 82 isn’t as nice as it sounds. The quarry staff said it was the hottest day they’d had all summer; they retreated to the shade while the stalwart fish seekers carried on with their hammering.
We arrived at the quarry around 11:00 and pounded rocks until 4:45, nearly six hours. We found loads of fish, and we got sunburned, cut, covered in limestone dust, dehydrated, sore, overheated, and exhausted. All worthy sacrifices in the name of rocks!
The fossils from Fossil Lake are typically black, brown, and orange due to concentrations of iron and carbon.
Speaking of wordy sacrifices, I have plenty of advice for those heading to American Fossil, so let’s begin. First, the Google map is wrong. Do not use it. Instead, only use the directions given to you by American Fossil via their website or reservation confirmation emails.
If you are one of those people who meticulously calculates how many pairs of clothes they will need on a trip, please note you will not be able to re-wear anything you don while digging for fossils. In fact, your attire will be so dusty from those endeavors that you will likely need to put it in a plastic bag afterward to keep it from contaminating all the contents of your suitcase.
Also, fish fossils are delicate, and the limestone they are in breaks easily. Be careful how you transport your treasures back home. We had some crack. I’d recommend bringing bubble wrap or purchasing it at the Ace Hardware store in Kemmerer.
And one final note to the hungry, Kemmerer is a small town. It has a handful of good places to eat, but they close early and don’t open at all on some days of the week. So, the food situation is a little spotty. We found Pizza Hut the most reliable source of meals. On an inconsequential sidenote, the residents of Kemmerer are super friendly. They are also super proud of their world’s-first JCPenney. Unfortunately, the world’s-first JCPenney will not improve your stomach’s predicament.
Next time, I will finish the recount of our fossil quest by unearthing some advice about Fossil Butte National Monument.
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