Sam & Kim: Take a Hike! (Back in Time)

This IS the year of adventure, right? Back in December, Sam and I and friends, Clayton and Julie Williams, declared this would be the Year of Adventure. This certainly has been a WEEK of adventure for me! It began with a beautiful drive through the Arkansas hills to Fiddler’s Bend near Kansas, OK to see my friend, Connie Ellison and culminated with the beautiful wedding of my niece!

Fiddler's Bend on the Illinois River

The friendly folks at Fiddler's Bend suffered a devastating, 50 year record flood on Easter Sunday and I wanted to see the effect of it on one of my favorite places (in the world), and help Connie in any way I could. This blog is not about the Easter flood, nor is it about the even more terrifying tornado we survived Sunday, May 22--followed by a flash flood the following day in which we were rescued by canoe and john boats. This blog is about the amazing discovery my parents and I made while hiking in a remote area of Missouri on Monday, May 31st!

Water bottles in our back pack and a good breakfast in our tummies, we arrived at the portal of our trail head, ready to digitally capture a rare swallowtail butterfly or new hybrid species of Iris chrysographes.

Nothing could prepare us for what ensued! The butterflies were flitting hither and yon among the trees and meadows dappled in sunlight from the billowy clouds passing before the sun overhead. In the distance we could hear sounds like high pitched squeals; not unlike that of excited children. We passed from the dark coolness of the forest into the glaring light of the meadow, and eureka! What we saw took us back to the beginning of time! Racing across the meadow were not one, but FOUR Allosaurus! They were headed straight for us!

Fear cemented our steps and we became like statues! “Run!” my voiceless mind shouted. But which way? Back into the forest we loped as fast as three (almost three) senior citizens with bum knees can run! Dashing into the tangle of forest we were brought up short by a deafening silence and total stillness. Not even a leaf was rustling! Pointing up into the tree, my dad slowly began to back down the path in retreat. My eyes followed the direction of his trembling finger.

A couple of Sordis, carnivorous by nature, with a wingspan of a foot and a tail longer than its body clutched at the corky bark of a towering tree. Hideous to look at with a coat of dense hairs on its body alone, these Pterosaurs rely on wing membranes instead of feathers to fly. It seems the entire forest was holding its breath lest it attract the attention of the fearsome creature.

A slight movement caught my eye. Ever so slowly I turned my head to bring IT into focus. There, below me, among the vines and low growing cover, a flash of silver darted from dark shadows across the beam of sunlight into deeper cover. Moving only my eyes, I could pick out the form of the Bambiraptor intent on one thing: opening a very large, creamy colored egg with sickle shaped killing claws on its hands and feet.

Barely able to control the trembling in my legs, my adrenaline-laced heart beat a deafening drumbeat in my head. I glanced at my dad, so strong and fearless; eyes wide, mouth agape in awe. Mom stood at his side, her hand on his arm-- frozen in place like when we, as children, played “statue tag” at dusk. She spoke just above a whisper, “ Over there, under the bush”.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the Hypsibema nestled under a wall of brush, her tail curled around a nest of buff-colored eggs.

What my eyes witnessed, my mind could not believe! A duck-billed dinosaur with over 1,000 small cheek teeth for eating vegetation was looking back at me! The thought ran through my head that I was certainly grateful that she was a plant-eater!

Mama Hypsibema

Apparently, she had lost an egg to the Bambiraptor. She glared at my intrusion into her world and her loss. The forest had resumed its hum of insects and tree frogs. I glanced back the way I had come, combing the trees for sight of the Sordis. Silent as moths around a light pole, they had taken off. . . or were they every really there?

I gave a jerk of my head toward a footbridge we could reach by skirting off to the right of the Hypsibema. The path grew wider and the mossy forest floor gave way to graveled walkways. Mom and Dad and I stopped near a patch of flowers.

Purple Iris

What had we just seen back there? Was it a figment of our imagination? Were we all blue-toothed in to the same dream sequence and at any moment we would awaken? It was a mystery to me, but I could not wait to get home and make a phone call! A friend of mine has a nephew who spent several weeks one year searching for lost dinosaurs in the rain forests and mountains in Brazil. (True Story) I could just imagine how this discovery of ours, right here in Missouri would thrill him. Or maybe not...since he spent thousands of dollars on his trip and we had spent very little that day.

Yes, Rob...I believe in lost dinosaurs!