The man and I went for a hike in the woods. We started off looking for morel mushrooms. We just found 1. We go to this place to find fossils and geodes.
OOoooh, that is so awesome, Michelle! I've always wanted to find a geode, but I wouldn't know one even if I tripped on it. I can't believe how many you found! Yes, there are lots of cool places and cool treasures to look for here in the West...fossils, gold, meteorites...lots of goodies. I've been doing some exploring too, now that the weather is nice. Tfs your cool finds :)
Catalina Queen Lake Monroe in Indiana is the site of an ancient volcano that made the geodes here. The closer you get to the lake the bigger the geodes get. We are pretty far south of there. This place we went to a couple times up north had so many geodes you could not take a step in the creek with out stepping on one. It was crazy. Walking a creek in the woods is one of the best things ever.
I just love your video I'm a big rock hound myself I live in Lafayette Indiana I find a bunch of crinoids stems here nothing like where you're at I'd give anything to know where your location is but I'll go down to Turkey Run cuz it's not far from Lafayette and I'll go to Shades State Park and find a bunch in the Sugar Creek but that one she'll you found that you showed earlier if that's a solid quartz fossil shell I find them they are rare it's a good find even though that look like that one had a little damage on it but still a nice fine but you're smart lady not giving up your spot that you have that spots incredible .Jeff
+Jeff Ricketts thanks. It is an out of the way kind of place. It is also the secret Morrell mushroom hunting place. I need to go back there. It is like the rest of world disappears when I collecting rocks. I will tell you that the closer you get to Monroe Lake the better the fossil hunting is and geode hunting.
Amazing. I live in southern indiana and rocks are always a passion of mine. Have to find one everywhere i go. I believe ive been to this spot. Excellent spot and great finds there!
I love hunting rocks, crystals and fossils. If I may ask hopefully without sounding rude, why bother collecting geodes if you don't open them? Kind of a waste to not see the beauty inside.
Way cool! I collect rocks and crystals. I like the geo/branch combo. I'm thinking wrap a little wire around your favorite piece and wear as a necklace, if it is not too sharp or scratchy.
Do Clement These are my best fossil finds. I never considered making jewelry out of them. Interesting idea. They are smooth. I never really thought about the fact that they aren't sharp edged.
Great video. Some very nice finds. you have several species of stems. Your man's find is a Calyx. (the part at the top of the stem that holds the branches to the stem). You could go the Cincinnati Drydredgers on You Tube. They are a fossil club and have videos that can help you identify any of the fossils you find in the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio area. That shell is very interesting, have not seen one like it. All the rest are from the Cincinnati Arch area. The Drydregers could help you age your fossils. Great Fossils
Michelle, this is amazing. And to think i had been to every southern indiana location. APPARANTLY NOT!!! haha Michelle if you wanna ever share some locations i got some doozies :)
I will have to keep that in mind. I have gotten a lot of requests on this video for the location and it is one of those things that I feel like it could be damaged so bad if I was just to say where it is. Have you ever been up near Monroe Lake and seen the creeks filled with geodes? We went to one. It was insane.
@@michellesfrugallivin I love the history of it too Michelle, nothing makes me happier than finding a 8k year old point that our stone age ancestors carved and put love into. For you to hold something that you know an extinct era of people held. Its truly an amazing thing
Is the southern area best near the border of the state or could you find some nice specimens about 20 min out of downtown I've found 2 fossils in my backyard yesterday and the day before and I'd love to up my collection I'm new to fossil hunting so idk if it's any different than prospecting or not
+Frances Darlyne really you can find them anywhere. Good places to look are near creeks or streams where the water washes the bank away. Or places were rock in exposed.
How do you go about getting permission to hunt in some of those areas? I've always wanted to do it but I don't really know the right way to ask about it with landowners.
This place is public land. If you go to public land make sure you can legally take the rocks. There is a park near here that is protected and doesn't allow rock collecting. For the most part water ways are open for people to access. We also hunt on our properties or people we know. We haven't ever asked anyone to look on their property.
Have u ever hunted the strip pits of Sullivan county? Prob Greene as well but we camped at one of the strip pits in the maybd late 60s and 70s and we had boxes and boxes of fossils, I think my step mom finally sold them in a yard sale
was the shell ever identified? i'm from south Texas and i took one geology class in college and fell in love with it. I'm moving to Indiana in the summer and im so excited to start exploring new places.
I haven't had anyone try to identify them. I look at them in reference books and they all look so similar. Anywhere you end up at in Indiana should be a good place to find fossils.
Michelle... I have about a 12-15lb mineral/rock I would love to know what it is... I don’t know if you would know or maybe if you have someone that might know what type of rock/gym/mineral it may be it looks kind of milky and clear but it’s semi glossy and very hard. I actually got it next to an old apartment that my wife I lived in years ago and it was just kind of sticking up out of the ground so I just dug it up and bring it with us it is now sitting outside of my house where my wife put it but I want to know if it’s precious or expensive to where I should bring it inside and keep it or should I just leave it. Thanks
I am not good at identifying rocks too much. Best think I can think of is contact the geology department at the nearest university to you. They will help.
This is great! My daughter (5) is a total rockhound already. We just moved to the Indy area. Any recommendations as far as websites/organizations to watch? I've been reading through your comments to get ideas of places to take her. Want to hit the Richmond area. Any other recommendations for small kids?
+Taryn Hassler Thanks for watching. I really don't have a web site that I watch. In general I find that searching any creek in Indiana will give you fossils. And if you are looking for geodes the closer you get to Monroe Lake the more you will find and the bigger they get. Monroe Lake is an ancient volcano.
I saw that in a comment below, we're definitely going to have to check that out. Thank you! I had no idea they were so prevalent. She has a much better eye than we do so once she knows what she's looking for, I imagine she'll be finding some on our hikes!
I have been on some park trails where the ground has gotten worn down and find fossils. You just have to start looking. And she is closer to the ground so she can see them better. lol You might go to the library and get some books on fossils.
The thing your man found is a Blastoid. They are also called Sea Buds and are from the Ordovician period. That fossil would be about half a billion years old :)
There’s so many coronoid stems! I look for them in my backyard in dirt patches and come inside with maybe 2 or 3 each time I go looking for them. I had no words when I saw how many you had with still piles of them laying on the ground! Any tips for me just looking in my backyard in dirt patches to maybe find more? Edit: The ones i find are also super small, the biggest ones I probably have are smaller than the ones that you said are small( a few bigs ones) and where did you go to find all of these I would love to visit! :)
The easiest places to find them is a creek. Someplace where the dirt is being eroded. Or where a road has been dug out of a hillside. Called a road cut. The thing is they have to be where you are looking and this just happened to be a really great spot we found. I say you are fortunate to find them in your backyard because I don't have them in mine.
Hey Michelle this is Jeff I live in Lafayette Indiana I find a lot of crinoids stems I find a lot of fossils walk in the Sugar Creek through Crawfordsville and all the way down to Turkey Run State Park if you want to give me the location or an ideal where it's at could be worth your while I've never seen that many crinoids stems in one location like that I've never seen a bed of them like that if I ever did find that place I would never take them all I would never be greedy but if you want to give me a hint to where your spot is I could send you a check in the mail or I could send you some nice fossils of mine take care looks like you did a good job on the finding him
i have a place here in Kentucky, i find allot larger pieces/ Conglomerate's of Crinoid stems, i like to run them in a Smallish Rock Tumbler for 10 hours, i use small polishes roundish fish tank Rock, running it in the tumbler will clean them up some and round off any sharp spots
There are several good spots within a hour of you. One is the Sulphur/ I64 interchange. It is famous for its fossils. I wish I lived in your neck of the woods, I'd be out hunting everyday. If you are looking for mores sites checkout the Drydredgers homepage. In the field trip section they have lots of info. If you join (real cheap) they have field trips all over the area ( In/Ohio/Ky). Some of the trips to famous out of state sites.
pyrowild I looked on their site. They had a place where they found trilobites. I always wanted to find one of them but really didn't think Indiana had any place to find them. We might have to go find some.
All of the stems are species of crinoids, none are plants. It’s very neat that you’ve gotten so many species! The thing your SO found is either a Blastoid (another filter feeding animal) or the calix of a small crinoid, I couldn’t see it very well, but I’m leaning toward blastoid. 🙃
hi Marion. These are some great finds. I know everyone wants to go visit this place. I haven't told anyone where it is. I am afraid it would be over run and destroyed. We haven't been back there since this day I made the video so I am not sure what is happening there these days. It is public land so I hold no claim to it but it really is protected because of its out of the way location. If someone were to convince me they have a scientific, greater good, academic research purpose for going there, I would consider it.
@@michellesfrugallivin I just am fascinated with the stems and bits. I want to make a bracelet and I want to fill one of those clear lamps all the way up with them. I’m getting some from an old quarry not far from where I’m staying, in Paris, Illinois, but not near enough to do a lamp! They’re all creamy colored - like ivory - when cleaned. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the COLORS you get at that location!!! I live in Virginia so I cannot possibly clean the site out - I swear on my beloved dog Tucker that I would not share the location with another soul! If you could email me, that would be great! I’d even let you drive me out - I’d never remember where I was…
Good luck. I live in Northern Indiana and come down to your end of the state to fossil hunt often. The fossils in this area are know world wide as the some of the best Ordivician (450-420million years) there are.
pyrowild I found a booklet about the fossils of the Falls of the Ohio that shows drawings and names. I think I could match up my shells. I didn't get these at the Falls (protected area). I got these fossils an hours drive from there so probably the same time period. Going to the Falls when the river is low is really great. You can walk out pretty far and see some large fossils on the river bed.
Creeks, rivers, and lakes are the easiest. You are near Eagle Creek park. I haven't ever looked there but I bet you could find them. If you know someone with a creek on their property ask if you can walk it. South of you is Lake Monroe. It is an acient volcano and geodes are formed from acient volcanos. So the closer you get the Lake Monroe the bigger and more geodes you will find. Going to the great lakes you will find fossils and I am down at the Ohio River and there are fossils and small geodes here. Lots of people hunt at "road cuts". This is where they dig out a hill to make a road more flat. If you use facebook, search for an Indiana fossil group to join and you will get some ideas.
I love your video! The excrement in your voice is priceless. My husband and I have been fossil/rock hunting for 15 years. The first rock with a hole this video, could it be a drilled hole?
They are great. As for the actual spot...it isn't my spot to tell people where it is. What I can tell you is that any creek I go into around here has fossils. Along lakes and ponds or road cuts where they take out some hill to put in the road. I have found them walking the trails at Charlestown State Park. happy hunting
I remember stopping at a Rest Stop in Southern Ind. 1 time, when out of nowhere, I ended up coming across the "Biggest" Crystal I'd ever came across. Think she said she was from Corydon or something but by GOD, I mean come on. Seriously
I just rinse them with water and let them soak if they are really muddy. I have taken a toothbrush to them if dirt is stuck in cracks. I saw on some rock collecting channel that they use the cleaning product fabulouso which is really cheap and can be found at Dollar Tree.
SleepyTyrant I know where Bedford, KY is. Is Bedford, IN going to lake Monroe? That whole area is great for fossil hunting but no where these came from.
It looks like to me that the only reason these are exposed is because they cut an drive way access to a lake. Otherwise these would be hidden. Makes me want to dig everywhere.
I bet it does! I could spend days in a creek bed collecting crinoids and rocks. I really dont ever think of bringing my little handy dandy shovel though. Thanks for the idea!
I have collected my whole life,I recently was in my stuffed garage and found a box of ammonites .They are pea size to nickle size ,about 10 lbs worth. Hah ! I was so excited ,kept me busy for daze.Thanks for the video.
it's illegal to remove geodes from State & Federal parks and lands...I see no problem with a child keeping a fossil...but why remove all these rocks from their location? Our family farm HAD tons of geodes...but thanks to folks carrying them out by the trunks full, there are few now...sad.
It's ok to take a few rocks from where ur hunting but, don't take so many rocks, just because you see a rock does not mean you can pick it up, it is not yours. It is not ours, it is the Earth's, don't just take everything you find
