My late father, an Engineering Geologist, examines a fossil leaf specimen at the Lydodium Gulch quarry in the Middle Eocene Ione Formation, western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Amador County, California. This is the specific fossil site that paleobotanist Howard Schorn and I had worked during the week of July 27 to August 2, 2002. Dad and I were the first folks to return to the area after that major paleobotanical quarrying operation. And I am reminded that this particular field trip was the last visit Dad and I made to the Lygodium Gulch fossil leaf locality before his passing in 2003. Image snapped on October 14, 2002.

Please note: All fossil localities in the Ione Formation of Amador County, California, presently occur on private property; explicit permission from the land owners must be secured before collecting fossils there.