Vintage Starlet: An Adventure a Shark Tooth Hill

I just had an incredible time out at Ernst Quarries near Bakersfield, CA! My friend Eric invited me out to join him on an adventure digging for shark teeth out at Shark Tooth Hill!

Though the weather was far too hot to be tramping around in the desert (it was 109f), Eric and I had way more fun than we ought to be allowed to have!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos or videos of us actually doing the digging. A combination of excitement and sun stroke had me forgetting to capture the moments! I did manage to get a few pictures of my outfit (that I put together weeks in advance). By time I snapped the pictures, my clothes were grubby, dusty, sweaty, and dirty! The sun, wind, and dust had all destroyed my curls, and I just looked disheveled.

Some highlights included;

Even though we were late, unprepared, no cash, only card, owner, Robert was amazingly hospitable and kind and allowed us to drive back into town to grab the cash we needed for entry and take us in after we returned.
I was digging through the sand with my bare hands when I uncovered a 3 inch scorpion and was nearly stung! In my excitement to capture the fat little creature on film, I accidentally lead it to it's death when it hopped over a small mound right into a black widow's web, which she was more than happy to battle him and make him her next meal. I felt (and still feel) terrible for this and can only hope that this appeases Neith and pray that Serket doesn't take vengeance on me!

Though we only found a small lot of teeth, Eric found the prettiest (nearly a perfect specimen) tooth and I found the biggest. I only found one other tooth after that. I did find 2 neat fossilized bone pieces that were the nub parts. Fossilized bone shards are plenty out there!

My Collection

With all that said, we cannot wait to go back!! Hopefully this winter when the sun isn't so brutal and we can continue our digs without dying from dehydration!