"Big Game Hunting" on our Beach--Exciting Find

Phil's recent appearance in the local newspaper was actually his second time in the papers this fall. Last time was in September, when the Redoubt Reporter interviewed him about the 37,000-year-old mammoth tusk piece he found about a decade ago up in Deep Creek, 40 miles north of here.

With the length of day and the weather so salient right now, I sometimes feel like I'm brought closer to other times, as if we're riding a spiral. Every Solstice, we get to revisit the previous Solstice on the previous round of the spiral. If we celebrate or think about traditional festivals, we're also invited to look deep into our collective past. One of the reasons I love collecting rocks so much is for this reminder of the depth of time beneath our feet. And this post is about a very special find from the past.

I've alluded before to the fact that Phil's always "shopping" when hiking out in the wilderness, and he has found some incredible treasures on his travels, which he shares as unique gifts for people he cares about. Well, on our Monday beach hike with our friend Sue, we made a very special find. I'll explain why I say "we" in a moment.

It was the first time in several days that we were hiking without constant, intense wind in our faces in one direction, accompanied by stinging sleet. Although it was cold, the absence of wind made it feel luxurious and pleasant. We were hiking a little slower than our usual pace, stopping frequently and admiring all the new erosion. That's an admiration tinged with apprehension, mind you!

I was tending to hike slightly ahead: I run cold, so our slower pace was putting me at risk for chilling. But I was "scouting." I would point or call out anything that looked interesting. As I passed one pinch-point where a whole chunk of bluff had spewed down to the beach, leaving an apron of new gravel gabling toward the shore, I noticed a very interesting-looking piece of something. I pointed at it, and walked on. Phil, just behind me, picked it up, took a close look, and said, "This is part of a mammoth's tooth!"

 It's about the size of my palm. Weathered and layered--petrified, you could almost say.

 Its top and bottom surfaces are so smooth.

This is majorly exciting: there's been a recent upswing in interest in fossils from Pleistocene fauna (hence the interview about Phil's mammoth tusk). Geologists used to think that there were no mammoths in this area in the Pleistocene. Phil's mammoth tusk, because of where it was found (an inland location, so it couldn't have been washed ashore from elsewhere) had a big part in proving that there were mammoths here back then. Now, people are out on the beaches looking for more "evidence!" The local Geologist found another tusk fragment on the beach this fall, and Phil goes several times a week just to look. Well, he looks for other things too, like cedar logs, but he likes to say he's going "big game hunting."

This is his mammoth tusk--from a different mammoth than the owner of the tooth, but probably similar vintage.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to imagine how this world would have looked when those creatures were alive. How different from now. And yet, part of them coexists with us in this world. It makes my lifetime seem very small...

Happy Solstice, Happy Chanukah, and watch the days begin to get longer!