We were up in the hills past Cooney Bay exploring fossil beds. Most of our previous activity had been in the long gullies closer to Cooney Bay. We have found fossils there, but the area had been picked over and it took some digging to find new fossils.

On a winter day with no snow on south-facing slopes, we started from the parking area off the Red Lake Road, and then followed the track which parallels the railway on our way towards Battle Bluff.Past the tunnel bluffs, the slopes are more gentle and faint tracks climb the ridges. We followed these goat tracks up the hills. There are 5 gullies in the area to the east of Battle Bluff and we explored them. About halfway up, we stopped to look at shale outcrops. Pulling apart shale layers, we were delighted to find new fossils in every layer. Many were just smudged remains, but we found some very clear fossils too, mostly leaves, ferns, and branched plants. In 15 minutes of searching, we found some good ones for our collection.

Crossing ridges and gullies, we found some volcanic rock too from the cliffs above and a lot of quartz. Both milky quartz and rosy quartz covered the hillside, and they were rounded by stream action from the melting glaciers. The hills are mostly barren with very few trees anywhere in sight. In one gully we found a skeleton of a young bighorn sheep. Goat trails connect ridges and gullies and the whole area is a slow but interesting traverse with views down to Kamloops Lake below.