Post by elementary on Dec 31, 2011 12:53:14 GMT -5
My Dad and I got into Blythe about 9:30 on the evening of the 28th. We hitched up our shoes and set the alarm.
Morning came and we met up at the Denny's for introductions and plans. I drew up maps for Tony and Christopher and brought in Delmer Ross's GPS Guide to the Wiley Well Region.
We had Christopher (Bakersfield) and Tony (Idaho) from RTH. With Tony was Blake - a knapper and great guy with an excellent sense of humor. From Brenda, AZ via Ventura Ca was Ron - my club's Field Trip Leader and my usual partner in crime, and his wife Jean. My Dad - Ev - came in from Redlands, Ca.
My father - years ago - worked for San Bernardino County and his supervisor was Joel Hauser - the finder and promoter of the Hauser Beds. When I started hunting 8 years ago and found out who my dad's former boss was, I had to ask "Why didn't we ever go out hunting with him?!!!" and my dad said he just wasn't interested...
Oh well.
In the past, I've met Joel Hauser's widow and his son's and they've opened their house to me in the past - so I've seen samples of material that was taken from the Hauser Beds back in the 1930's.
They're a great and generous family.
Anyway - this place is dug and dug and dug - so I never promise massive specimens - but I do promise a fun time roaming.
We took off from Denny's - remet at the Rest Stop at Wiley Well Rd. It's by the Max Sec. Prison. My favorite sign: "Don't pick up Hitchhikers".
We drove the 10 miles down Wiley Well Rd to the turnoff onto the Black Hills Road. This first dirt road is - as my dad says - the smoothest dirt road you'll ever see.
From the intersection we drove 5 miles to Middle Camp. I need to mention that there were more people roaming around this area than I've ever seen before...easily several hundred between the two main campsites and all the roadside camping going one. A lot of them were newbies out here. More about that later.
We headed south from Middle Camp - if you headed straight west you would have had another choice between the Hidden Saddle Beds and the Straw Beds - both of which I've had little experience with - except for a black agate nodule field. We did not hit this area.
Heading south I showed them both the road into the Potato Patch and then curved around to the Cinnamon Beds. Since Christopher and Tony had never been through here, I wanted them to get a feel for the roads around the area. Once you get the roads down, which can be confusing at first, getting around is easy.
At the Cinnamon beds we met the Shooter family from El Paso, Texas. They were wondering where to go and what to see. They had come in with a class C motor home (as my dad called it - it looked like a camper on steroids to me). Anyways, after a brief talk, I offered them to come with us. The mother and daughter piled into my truck. The father and son climbed in with Tony (a big thanks to him for sharing space.)
We headed out to the Southern Hauser Beds. This place looks like artillery rounds landed on the hillside slopes.
You can still find small to tiny geodes in the diggin's where prior people tossed away their discards. Broken geodes can be picked up by the bucketful, if that is what you want. I've dug next to the road here and pulled out a bucket of baseball sized t-eggs in an hour. It's a game of hunt and peck and luck.
I had been told of a relatively recent strike which had produced some softball sized ones, but I couldn't find it. The group hit the slopes and pecked around. The daughter of the shooters (a youngin' that has run marathons! She was like a billy-goat out there...) began poking around the gully below the hillside I was searching and yelled out "I found one." I went down there and pried out a whole geode just shy of volleyball size. She took off running to show her dad.
A little later, as I poked around the white agate t-egg slope (dozens of quarter sized geodes - piles of broken ones - but no good glory hole to dig out...) she came running up. Her father had broken open the t-egg revealing a crystal-lined hollow taking up about 1/4 of the geode's interior. She was all smiles. It was the best thing any of us found at the southern beds. Christopher did hit a small seam that popped out maybe 5 or 6 geodes before we left.
We gathered back at the car and ate lunch and took photos - lots of photos. Everyone had a camera it seemed.
note diggins on hillside behind...
From Left to Right:
Me, Ev (my dad), Jean and Ron, Blake behind, Avery (mountain goat) in front, Christopher and Tony in RTH shirts (gotta get me one), then Jackson and his mother Kim. Rob is taking the photo.
Rob and his son then began digging in one of the many holes and pulled out a couple fist sized nodules and a few smaller. Here's a shot of the road that runs literally right by the southern bed.
Right before we took off I met Nat - a man who brought his camper in from the south. He had "maybe 5 gallons left" and wondered how to get to the freeway from this place. I drew him a map. He had come up from Yuma. Then, another couple came by in their vehicle. This was Karen from Simi Valley, CA - just down the road from Ventura, and her husband. They were here for the first time too. I worried that our group was going to bet larger and larger. They had topography maps and I pointed out where they were.
Finally we heading out again.
We stopped at the Corn Field for nodules and random pieces of float.
Our caravan parked:
Our group spreading out:Potato patch diggins in background
A shot another direction showing the cinnamon beds in the background:
I found a large chunk of blue-green material I gave to Christopher as he found a small piece early on and I thought he'd like a larger piece. We'll see what it looks like cut. Could be good or could be bad...
We then headed up to the Cinnamon Beds where the best luck was hit. I hunted until I found a recent dig site and I pulled out 3 quick nodules the size of my fist or slightly larger. Ron and my dad hunkered down and cleared out another dig a little lower on the hillside. Ron hit gold. I don't have the photo - I see if I can get one later - but he pulled out two geodes that he could barely lift. They were basketball sized/more or less. My dad pulled out a few smaller ones and another the size of a volleyball.
It was the last spot of the day. Tony and Blake took off. Then the Shooter family drove off in their desert behemoth. Then Christopher, my dad and I, and Ron and Jean rumbled out of the desert.
It was a great trip. Tony learned how much I talk (and talk and talk and talk) and I kept asking if everyone was having a good time.
I worried as Tony didn't pull out much - but then - as he says - he has enough rock. Maybe we'll do the Cady's next year.
I loaned Christopher my Wiley Well guide and he might be heading back there in a couple weeks. I wish him luck.
Ron and Jean went back to Brenda, and I'm hoping to visit them, and by default Qtzite in a couple weeks...
We'll see.
Thanks for reading my little book.
Lowell
Morning came and we met up at the Denny's for introductions and plans. I drew up maps for Tony and Christopher and brought in Delmer Ross's GPS Guide to the Wiley Well Region.
We had Christopher (Bakersfield) and Tony (Idaho) from RTH. With Tony was Blake - a knapper and great guy with an excellent sense of humor. From Brenda, AZ via Ventura Ca was Ron - my club's Field Trip Leader and my usual partner in crime, and his wife Jean. My Dad - Ev - came in from Redlands, Ca.
My father - years ago - worked for San Bernardino County and his supervisor was Joel Hauser - the finder and promoter of the Hauser Beds. When I started hunting 8 years ago and found out who my dad's former boss was, I had to ask "Why didn't we ever go out hunting with him?!!!" and my dad said he just wasn't interested...
Oh well.
In the past, I've met Joel Hauser's widow and his son's and they've opened their house to me in the past - so I've seen samples of material that was taken from the Hauser Beds back in the 1930's.
They're a great and generous family.
Anyway - this place is dug and dug and dug - so I never promise massive specimens - but I do promise a fun time roaming.
We took off from Denny's - remet at the Rest Stop at Wiley Well Rd. It's by the Max Sec. Prison. My favorite sign: "Don't pick up Hitchhikers".
We drove the 10 miles down Wiley Well Rd to the turnoff onto the Black Hills Road. This first dirt road is - as my dad says - the smoothest dirt road you'll ever see.
From the intersection we drove 5 miles to Middle Camp. I need to mention that there were more people roaming around this area than I've ever seen before...easily several hundred between the two main campsites and all the roadside camping going one. A lot of them were newbies out here. More about that later.
We headed south from Middle Camp - if you headed straight west you would have had another choice between the Hidden Saddle Beds and the Straw Beds - both of which I've had little experience with - except for a black agate nodule field. We did not hit this area.
Heading south I showed them both the road into the Potato Patch and then curved around to the Cinnamon Beds. Since Christopher and Tony had never been through here, I wanted them to get a feel for the roads around the area. Once you get the roads down, which can be confusing at first, getting around is easy.
At the Cinnamon beds we met the Shooter family from El Paso, Texas. They were wondering where to go and what to see. They had come in with a class C motor home (as my dad called it - it looked like a camper on steroids to me). Anyways, after a brief talk, I offered them to come with us. The mother and daughter piled into my truck. The father and son climbed in with Tony (a big thanks to him for sharing space.)
We headed out to the Southern Hauser Beds. This place looks like artillery rounds landed on the hillside slopes.
You can still find small to tiny geodes in the diggin's where prior people tossed away their discards. Broken geodes can be picked up by the bucketful, if that is what you want. I've dug next to the road here and pulled out a bucket of baseball sized t-eggs in an hour. It's a game of hunt and peck and luck.
I had been told of a relatively recent strike which had produced some softball sized ones, but I couldn't find it. The group hit the slopes and pecked around. The daughter of the shooters (a youngin' that has run marathons! She was like a billy-goat out there...) began poking around the gully below the hillside I was searching and yelled out "I found one." I went down there and pried out a whole geode just shy of volleyball size. She took off running to show her dad.
A little later, as I poked around the white agate t-egg slope (dozens of quarter sized geodes - piles of broken ones - but no good glory hole to dig out...) she came running up. Her father had broken open the t-egg revealing a crystal-lined hollow taking up about 1/4 of the geode's interior. She was all smiles. It was the best thing any of us found at the southern beds. Christopher did hit a small seam that popped out maybe 5 or 6 geodes before we left.
We gathered back at the car and ate lunch and took photos - lots of photos. Everyone had a camera it seemed.
note diggins on hillside behind...
From Left to Right:
Me, Ev (my dad), Jean and Ron, Blake behind, Avery (mountain goat) in front, Christopher and Tony in RTH shirts (gotta get me one), then Jackson and his mother Kim. Rob is taking the photo.
Rob and his son then began digging in one of the many holes and pulled out a couple fist sized nodules and a few smaller. Here's a shot of the road that runs literally right by the southern bed.
Right before we took off I met Nat - a man who brought his camper in from the south. He had "maybe 5 gallons left" and wondered how to get to the freeway from this place. I drew him a map. He had come up from Yuma. Then, another couple came by in their vehicle. This was Karen from Simi Valley, CA - just down the road from Ventura, and her husband. They were here for the first time too. I worried that our group was going to bet larger and larger. They had topography maps and I pointed out where they were.
Finally we heading out again.
We stopped at the Corn Field for nodules and random pieces of float.
Our caravan parked:
Our group spreading out:Potato patch diggins in background
A shot another direction showing the cinnamon beds in the background:
I found a large chunk of blue-green material I gave to Christopher as he found a small piece early on and I thought he'd like a larger piece. We'll see what it looks like cut. Could be good or could be bad...
We then headed up to the Cinnamon Beds where the best luck was hit. I hunted until I found a recent dig site and I pulled out 3 quick nodules the size of my fist or slightly larger. Ron and my dad hunkered down and cleared out another dig a little lower on the hillside. Ron hit gold. I don't have the photo - I see if I can get one later - but he pulled out two geodes that he could barely lift. They were basketball sized/more or less. My dad pulled out a few smaller ones and another the size of a volleyball.
It was the last spot of the day. Tony and Blake took off. Then the Shooter family drove off in their desert behemoth. Then Christopher, my dad and I, and Ron and Jean rumbled out of the desert.
It was a great trip. Tony learned how much I talk (and talk and talk and talk) and I kept asking if everyone was having a good time.
I worried as Tony didn't pull out much - but then - as he says - he has enough rock. Maybe we'll do the Cady's next year.
I loaned Christopher my Wiley Well guide and he might be heading back there in a couple weeks. I wish him luck.
Ron and Jean went back to Brenda, and I'm hoping to visit them, and by default Qtzite in a couple weeks...
We'll see.
Thanks for reading my little book.
Lowell