Dry River Experience-
Let’s face it. Texas summers are hot. When you or your family are in the planning stages of a summer trip, one of the first things you check for is whether or not your destination includes access to a cooling body of water. This could be making sure that the hotel you booked has a pool included in its amenities, or that the campsite you plan to visit is located on a lake or a river. Most people seem to visit the park in its standard condition, that is, when the river is not completely dried up. But how would the experience differ if you visited the site when it is bone dry? Dry river at Dinosaur Valley here we come.
Location
Dinosaur Valley State park is situated perfectly on an arch shaped meander of the Paluxy River. Weeks of anticipated talks of our campsites on the river, and the pristine waters of the “Blue Hole” (the portion of the river that the park delineates as its swimming hole) precipitated our departure. Then, around 2-3 weeks before our reservation, we hear word of the Chalk Mountain Fire. This wildfire was raging just west of Dino Valley State Park, and was anticipated to cross its borders at some point. Numerous Facebook posts documenting the disastrous conditions had cropped up and suddenly extended family were talking of evacuations and left-behind RVs burning down. The topic of cancellation had come up in the extended family group chat.
Ultimately we ended up tracking the fire for days. Later we were notified that our trip would not have to be re-scheduled. But, with that news, we learned that the entire Paluxy River was bone dry. Also, the precious Blue Hole had dwindled down to a stagnant pool of slurry. It was full of green algae and dangerous amoebas, making it unfit and downright dangerous for human swimming activities.
Spirits dampened we still held hope that this would change (Spoiler, it didn’t) as the departure day approached.
Arrival and Campsite Prep
On a sweltering August Friday we began our drive from the Texas coast to Glen Rose. After five and a half hours, not including a stops at a Buc-ee’s and a Wal-Mart, we arrived, presented our reservations and parked the Jeep at site 19A along the river. Less than 30 minutes later we had the bicycles off, the Jeep unpacked, and the tent up. We were ready to head a couple of campsites over to where our extended family and friends had parked their RVs.
By this time I was drenched in sweat from simply unpacking the Jeep and pitching a cabin tent. Luckily my Father-in-Law had let us borrow his portable air conditioning unit. It wouldn’t really matter. During the daytime it was far too hot for the AC to keep up. It kept turning itself off, but at night it did help to cool the inside to around 70°F. I’ve gotten far too used to sleeping in the back cab of my Jeep with climate control. But now that I’m married, I’m looking for ways to adapt to couples camping.
The Experience
Eventually we made it over to the rest of the family and took time to explore the surrounding area. We took note of the very fat squirrel in the tree above the picnic area. Also we were extremely impressed by the cleanliness of the shower and restroom facilities. At dinnertime we passed the evening with burgers on a propane griddle (burn-ban in effect). We also played some corn-hole, and had a few bike rides up the Paluxy River trail. Soon it was time to see if sleep was an option.
I was surprised to see that the AC had managed to cool the inside of the tent to a comfortable sleeping temperature. Overnight it even went as low as 61°F before my wife forced me to turn it off. She was in a sheet, while I had my 50° sleeping bag. I would have had a decent night sleep if not for acid reflux and forgetting to pack my tums.
Dry River at Dinosaur Valley:
Time to Explore
The next morning after breakfast was cool for all of about an hour and a half. By the time we went out on our family expedition to the Denio Site to look at tracks, it was as if we were being cooked on a mall parking lot. They weren’t kidding about the river being completely dry.
In its predominant state, the Paluxy River at DVSP looks like any other. Water color ranges from teal to brownish, with rocky beds of white sedimentary gravel making up its point bars. On the opposite ends there are approximately six foot terraces with exposed roots from vegetation making up the cut banks. The surfaces of the inner channel exhibit a brownish tone when wet or underwater.
In its dry state the Paluxy River feels anything but inviting. The dry inner channel is a reflective, mostly bright white to grayish-brown tone. When you step out into it, it’s as if the temperature increases by a factor of 10, and there is almost no breeze to speak of. The stagnant pools that exist in the shady areas are green-brown, pungent, and contain the aforementioned green slurry, or the dead matter of river creatures that were trapped as the water subsided.
Hiking in the Heat
I noticed a fair amount of visitors hiking the inner channel. If you plan on visiting when it is in its dry state then you can expect the experience to be quite different. The overall lack of moisture and dusty, craggy feel of the channel interior, with its lack of vegetation, was comparable to a day hike in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park at this same time of year. You will need to bring enough water to stay hydrated. One 16 ounce bottle will most definitely not cut it. Fill your bottles or pack reservoirs with at least 2 liters and sip regularly. Wear sunscreen, and keep a damp bandana or rag around your neck. Most importantly, remember that a hike is not a race. It is definitely not frowned upon, and highly suggested that you take small breaks in the shade to sit and rest, especially if you are not used to very hot climates.
After spotting the track of multiple theropod footprints that comprise the Denio site, the younger crowd grew antsy and had decided on trekking out on a 7 mile hike of the outer loop. I fooled myself into tagging along. By the time we passed Buckeye creek I realized it was far too hot and dry. This hike was torture. I’d be much better off letting them go ahead while I explored at my own pace.
I turned back to Buckeye creek and had a much better time exploring the creek bed. Meandering around without having to keep pace with a group. After exploring the creek for a bit, I made it back across the dried up river. I decided to lie in the tall grass using my camel pack as a pillow. As I got back up I used that same camel pack to drench my head and shirt with water to help manage my ever increasing body heat. I then just followed the river bank until I made it back to our camp site.
Main Tracks
After a short nap, I felt it was time to jump onto my Trek Marlin 4 and find bicycle paths to pedal. A relatively easy ride was the Paluxy River trail. 1.9 miles according to the park map, this trail was asphalt paved and met the main roads and at least 3 parking lots. It followed along the overlooking bank of the river. At one particular bend I saw a sign designating the area behind as the “Sea of Grass”. It was the large prairie adjacent the river. To my surprise, having not looked at the map, I ended up at one of the park’s main attractions. By choosing to explore this trail, not half a mile from camp I ended up at the Main Track Site, “where Roland T. Bird made the world’s first discovery of a sauropod trackway.”
Well, since I was here I might as well hop off and go take a look. Observing the surrounding area I noticed plenty of informative signs and instructive media about how to explore the sight. Some were advertising the rentals of wading suits and transparent bottomed inner tubes to see the tracks under the flowing waters of the river. None of these things I needed because, again, the river was completely dry. I was able to walk down a massive set of stone stairs, approximately 50-60ft wide, and 10ft down, built into the cut bank. Carefully, but not tediously, I simply walked over to the main tracks. They were surrounded by a rope barrier dotted with “please do not cross” signs. There, sunken into the riverbed I saw this park’s main attraction, un-encumbered by the nuisance of flowing water.
Viewing Dinosaur Tracks
Theropod
The theropod tracks were easily distinguishable; petrified in stone, depressions of about 6 to 8 inches into what was once mud, with three long toe (or claw) impressions on the front of the print. The sauropod tracks could be differentiated from the theropods by them being flatter. With three toes that are much stubbier and less sharply pronounced than those of the theropods.
When you imagine the dinosaurs that made these tracks it’s much easier to understand why the tracks exhibit these differences. Theropods such as Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus were large predators that ran on their hind two feet similar to their descendants, the large avian dinosaurs of today, such as the ostrich, emu, or Australian cassowary. Owing to the fact that most of the weight of their large bodies rested on their hind two feet, the prints are much deeper, and exhibit the claws of a predator.
Sauropod
The sauropods, however, were large, 4-legged herbivores, such as the Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus. These dinosaurs were very large, but slow moving, and quadrapedal, meaning that they didn’t strike the surface hard with their feet, and that their weight was spread out among their 4 legs as they walked, making the impressions much flatter. And of course, being herbivores, they were not adapted to have large front claws, but just mostly ordinary toes, at the fronts of the feet.
After examining the main track site, I hopped back on my bicycle. I continued down the road until I reached the park store. There, in all their glory, were two humongous statues constructed outside of the shop. Fiberglass tributes built of a 70ft Apatosaurus (sauropod) and a 45ft Tyrannosaurus Rex (theropod), which had been on display at the 1694-65 New York World’s Fair. Both donated to the park in 1970 by the Atlantic Richfield Company.
How are Dinosaur Tracks Preserved?
Sometime later, back at camp, I was asked the question of how dinosaur tracks were preserved. I gave a more concise answer but here is one that is more in depth. In most cases (99%+), tracks of fauna from pre-history are not preserved at all. What we do find are very lucky discoveries because of the circumstances in which they are lithified. In the very small amount of cases in which prints are preserved, the process at which they become fossilized has been observed to be relatively standard.
The tracks must be near a wet or flowing body of water. The tracks must be depressions into a fine mud that then hardens, and then fills with a different material of a more coarse grain, such as sand. Over time these two layers, the mud, and the sand that filled over top of it, are then covered with other layers of sediment. As the track and the in-fill are further compacted by the surfaces that deposit above it, the pressure lithifies them into rock. At this point, they are no longer sediments, but sedimentary rocks. The rocks formed from the fine grain mud are much denser, and smoother than the rocks formed from the in-fill sand. When erosion begins, the sandstone breaks apart more easily and can separate from the mud stone. When the very dense mud stone is left exposed, tracks and all other depressions that were filled previously with the sand or sandstone are now visible as trace fossils.
Midnight Hike
We wrapped up our last night in the park by taking a midnight hike. I suggested the Paluxy River Trail and soon we were out of the campsite woods. We trekked along with the river to our right and the sea of grass to our left. I had remembered that most of my present company had only been to see the Denio site. They hadn’t yet ventured out to see the main site. So I was hoping that the end destination of our midnight hike would be a quaint surprise.
The entire chalky reflective riverbed was lit from the full moon when we arrived. We made it down to see the tracks once again. There we met up with others from our group that had been at the overlook trail. Then we spent some time relaxing on the large warm stones of the inner channel in the cool night air. The night sky offered an amazing crystal clear view of the cosmos. Our conversations shifted to falling stars and possible UFOs. I pictured that night sky in my mind back at camp, drifting to sleep in my cot, hoping to delay thoughts of the next morning, of frantic packing and a six hour journey home.
-Aug 2022-Steven
If you would like to know more please visit the link below:
http://paleo.cc/paluxy/elong.htm
Elongate Dinosaur Tracks
Glen Jay Kuban
This paper was presented at the First International Conference on Dinosaur Tracks and Traces in Albuquerque, NM in 1986, and subsequently was published in the book Dinosaur Tracks and Traces, 1989, Gillette, D.D., and Lockley, M.G., eds., Cambridge University Press, p. 428-440.
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