Cretaceous Hell Creek Christmas 🎄🦖

It is a few days after Christmas and the Hooleys are headed to the Badlands on a family adventure. It was summer the last time we went hiking together.

The sunrise is spectacular and it is an amazing start to an unforgettable day.

What a beautiful winter landscape in Southeastern Montana.

Our view to the west adds pink into the sky.

The horizon lingers with vivid shades of yellow and a hint of orange left over from the stunning morning sunrise.

Bare but beautiful.

Our friend is out running us alongside the fence and doesn’t stop this morning for me to take his photo.

I photograph the cattle on the range. They add interest to this visually unforgettable road trip.

Nathan loves the look of our Southeastern Montana cottonwood trees. I take these photographs for him.

Montana morning traffic ahead.

We are almost to the ranch. We will layer up for a winter hike and overstuff our backpacks with drinks. We never drink as much in the winter. Our thirst in summer is driven by the extreme heat.

It’s a warm winter morning with no snow cover in our region. We get hiking.

Nathan and I already both found a Chirostenotes toe claw. So our day is starting out lucky already.

I’m behind the guys hiking and take photos of our adventure as we continue walking and searching for dinosaur fossils.

Erik has discovered Triceratops frill pieces and Nathan and I check out the backside of the butte, only finding this big ant hill. We take a break for lunch my 18 year old is hungry!

We try our luck next to Erik. Nathan unbeknownst to him has discovered the tip of a Triceratops horn! Erik and I are so excited for him!

As the horn continues to get longer our excitement grows. We switch tasks and I take over digging and Nathan does the brushing.

A mini storm blows in and it gets darker, the wind picks up and it starts to rain. Pretty quick it turns colder and it is raining ice pellets and begins to snow.

The baby Triceratops brow horn with attached eye socket is glued….ice pellets and all!

It has stopped snowing and as I turn around the storm and dark ominous clouds have passed. To my surprise our big blue beautiful sky has appeared.

We load back up our backpacks to hike back since daylight fades fast in winter months. Nathan has elected the carry his amazing find of the day. This picture says it all! What an exciting unforgettable family adventure we’ve had today!

When we get there….I’ll get the gate! New adventures will probably have to wait until next year! 2025 season will start once the snow cover has melted and it has warmed up a bit. (It was -24° yesterday!🥶)

We spot two golden eagles on top of the butte.

Gorgeous afternoon winter landscape views.

The cows are headed home and so is Team Hooley. It will be an unforgettable adventure from sunrise to sunset.

This blog is dedicated to Jake our dear friend and business partner of almost 20 years. He passed away just before Christmas. We will remember his great humor and our amazing days together in the field on his ranch, that we call “ T-Rex Valley “. Jake was an avid believer in the Lord. May he rest in peace. He will be greatly missed.