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Way back in January of 2000, on a sunny day after a big rain storm, I was out in the rolling hills of Hungry Hollow, a desolate and sparsly populated area 5 miles north of the small town of Capay, CA., formerly known as Langville. Capay was a camping area for the early white trappers that ventured into Yolo County back in the 1800's.
After checking on how my flock of sheep had weathered the storm that had drenched us for three days, using my Honda three wheel motorcycle, I cruised the fence lines and gulleys for any evil coyotes that may have gotten themselves caught in any of the 20 snares that I had guarding my sheep. Everybody was fine and everything looked okay.
It was a nice day to go into Goodnow Slough, which ran through the property where my sheep were spending the winter, to look for coyote tracks and beautiful pieces of Yolo County petrified wood. The rain always washes out new pieces of petrified wood for me to collect. The agate of the petrified wood is easy to spot after a rain, --- it shines.
So, I was trudging along the bottom of this enchanted area, called Goodnow Slough, a geologic fault zone. One side is the floor of a small flat valley that suddenly drops straight off, down 60 feet to the bottom of the slough. I once witnessed a full grown cow get to close to the edge, the soil gave way and she went down 60 feet and impacted the creek bed. She is now part of the eco system at the bottom of the slough. This subterranean area is about 100 feet wide with a small seasonal creek about ten feet wide meandering back and forth in a zig zag pattern along the floor of the slough. As you approach the slough you see the tops of huge fully grown trees that are growing in the wide bottom of the slough. When you scramble down the steep sides of the slough you enter a vast eco system below ground level. Ancient valley oak trees, huge manzanita bushes, acorn laden blue oaks, holly bushes with their bright red berries, jack pines, poison oak (of course), moss, green ferns, flowering plants, mountain quail, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, hawks, eagles, owls, song birds, insects, Panamint Daisy, fig trees, salamanders, lizards, kangaroo rats, deer, and snakes all attracted by the moisture oozing from the soil.
The north bank of the slough is entirely uplifted to bluffs and eroding hillsides about 150 to 200 feet high.
Mr. O.P. Jenkins wrote, " This is a belt of Pliocene non-marine sediments about 10 miles wide that trends northwestward through the north-central part of Yolo County and a strip about four miles wide extends south along the coast range foothills to the southern border of the county." I believe that this area was the coast line 40 to 50 million years ago when the volcanic event occured, that created the conditions to make some of the fossil petrified wood, fossil mammal bones and marine fossils found in this part of Yolo County. In the western head waters of Goodnow Slough I have found fossilized ammonites and other marine fossils, but no petrified wood and no fossilized mammal bones.
The sides of the slough were too steep for my motorcycle, so it stayed at ground level while I descended into the cool air below. As I was trudging along this beautiful natural area in my rubber boots, I found lots of newly exposed pieces of petrified wood. I set the pieces of petrified wood on top of larger rocks in the creek, so that I can grab them on my way back. I stopped for a smoke and a drink from my trusty canteen. As I sat there quenching my thirst, my attention was drawn to this big hunk of gravel and concrete that I had seen many times before. But the storm run off water that had washed through the slough and exposed those new pieces of petrified wood, had also turned this hunk of rock over, exposing a side that I had not seen before. The part I thought was concrete, was fossil bone of a large critter and I could see the zig zag pattern where the parts of the bone grow together, and I realized that this big hunk was a fossilized part of a large animal. All the gravel that had fill the fossil when it was buried was now also fossilized into a solid mass. About 40% of the fossilized bone is present including a oval socket area and some pieces of bone protruding from the fossilized gravel. It weights about 100 pounds.
I could not lift it, I was 3/4 of a mile from my motorcycle, but I really wanted that fossil. So with great effort, I carefully rolled it up the bank to a spot on the bank about 3 feet high. At this point I could cradle it in my arms, lift it and carry it. It was so heavy that I could only carry it about 100 feet before I have to set it down on the three foot bank. I was able to move the fossil about half way back to my motorcycle before I ran out of energy and went home for the evening.
I returned the next day and started the slow process of moving this beautiful fossil through the ancient oak trees that live in this peaceful sub-ground eco system. At the end of the second day of this adventure I had moved my precious heavy fossil to a spot just below where I had parked my motorcycle. But it was 60 feet straight up the bank and I was worn out, so I went home for dinner.
The following day I return with a strong burlap wool sack and a shovel. I used the shovel to dig foot holes on the side of the slough and step like holes to rest the fossil in. I finally got that fossil hunk in the sack and started pulling it up the hill. It took a few hours, lots of inch by inch pulling and colorful language but I finally got that fossil next to my motorcycle. It was time for a rest........I struggled to get it up on the foot petal and rolled it up onto the seat of the motorcycle. Yahoo ! I started my bike, then I climbed aboard and sat on that fat fossil and slowly and carefully rode two bumpy miles back to my trusty old chevy pickup and headed home with my fossil from Goodnow Slough, Yolo County, California.
The fossil made several trips to Snyders Rockhound Pow Wow mineral show for display. It now rest in peace and quiet in the back yard rock area with lots of the petrified wood I collected in Goodnow Slough
Have a nice day.
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PLIOCENE FOSSIL 
