Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Jan 27, 2016 19:47:29 GMT -5
Hey all, I journeyed out to Anderson Lake in Morgan Hill, CA last October since it's only 20 minutes from my second job and here's what I ended up finding/experiencing! Here's the view from the hounding area, sparse shade if you decide to go on a sunny day so I'd recommend sunscreen and a hat. It's also pretty steep in some areas so wear shoes with some appropriate tread! There are two areas on Anderson Lake: a park(?) and the dam itself. I went the way to the dam and drove all the way to the opposite end. There will be a gate that you can shimmy through to get onto the trail. Almost immediately on the right of the trail there will be nice chatoyant chrysotile and serpentine: A few hundred feet down on the left you'll start seeing lots of deep maroon rocks. Pick through them and you'll start finding nice blue druzy and agates: (anyone with a saw and some free time want to give this guy a go for me? heh) Here's the entirety of the haul. I ended up tumbling some of the smaller pieces and had varying amounts of success: Lots of druzy pockets so just be aware. Still take on a nice shine! Thanks for looking and good luck if you decide to go yourself!
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 27, 2016 21:40:44 GMT -5
Great trip report and sweet finds! That one you want cut is amazing!
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Jan 28, 2016 2:56:20 GMT -5
I found some cool specimen pieces too! I'll be sure to take pictures of them when it's light out.
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Post by broseph82 on Jan 28, 2016 13:53:41 GMT -5
Looks like someone may need a tumbler! Shannon
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luvtogrow
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2012
Posts: 194
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Post by luvtogrow on Jan 28, 2016 18:53:51 GMT -5
We go straight up hill past ranger station to massive outcrop. That is to the left on opposite shore in your picture. Nice hounding!
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Jan 29, 2016 2:15:18 GMT -5
We go straight up hill past ranger station to massive outcrop. That is to the left on opposite shore in your picture. Nice hounding! I'll try going on that side next time, thanks for the tip! And hearing that coming from you is a bit of an ego booster haha
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Post by mohs on Jan 29, 2016 9:58:02 GMT -5
cool collection area & you can wash the rocks off good stuff
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 29, 2016 13:07:33 GMT -5
Beautiful area and nice score on rocks...
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Jan 31, 2016 7:52:39 GMT -5
Here's one of the specimens I mentioned! It's a chalcedony(?) fault breccia and it's easily my favorite self collected specimen so far.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2016 9:31:52 GMT -5
Here's one of the specimens I mentioned! It's a chalcedony(?) fault breccia and it's easily my favorite self collected specimen so far. Polish it
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Jan 31, 2016 9:58:27 GMT -5
Here's one of the specimens I mentioned! It's a chalcedony(?) fault breccia and it's easily my favorite self collected specimen so far. Polish it I'm admittedly afraid to, the matrix seems kind of porous... I'd be really upset with myself if I ruined this guy through attempting to tumble. If I find more next time I head down there I'll definitely give it a shot!
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nephrite
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2014
Posts: 12
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Post by nephrite on Feb 13, 2016 23:47:30 GMT -5
Very cool.. I recently hunted near the lake a found some brownish rock with orbs. I'm going to try a cut/polish it. Keep up the posts for this area, I'm close to it..
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,456
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 14, 2016 18:21:19 GMT -5
Nephrite: I used to fish and hunt rocks there a bit as a kid and the orby stuff you found might jasper with magnesite. That area contains fine examples of that material. Here's a pic....Mel
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Post by radio on Feb 15, 2016 18:56:55 GMT -5
Cool finds! I collected there in the late 90's and found a neat geode of some type. Got ran out by a park ranger telling me rockhounding was forbidden. On the way out I did see a sign to that effect that I didn't see on the way in.
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Feb 16, 2016 23:58:40 GMT -5
Cool finds! I collected there in the late 90's and found a neat geode of some type. Got ran out by a park ranger telling me rockhounding was forbidden. On the way out I did see a sign to that effect that I didn't see on the way in. Didn't see any signs but I'll keep an eye out and cool it if I do! There are a lot of deep red rocks with blue vugs in them, it's really cool.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,652
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Post by Tommy on Feb 17, 2016 11:30:20 GMT -5
We've been out there a couple of times and I've had discussions, and read other discussions with area rockhounds and everyone seems to know it's forbidden but I've never seen it published or posted as forbidden and everyone just kind of sneaks in and does their thing.
I have a friend who gave me some pieces of chalcedony in matrix that he found in the outcrops to the right of the dam when facing the water. It wasn't very good from a lapidary quality standpoint.
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Feb 17, 2016 15:51:14 GMT -5
We've been out there a couple of times and I've had discussions, and read other discussions with area rockhounds and everyone seems to know it's forbidden but I've never seen it published or posted as forbidden and everyone just kind of sneaks in and does their thing. I have a friend who gave me some pieces of chalcedony in matrix that he found in the outcrops to the right of the dam when facing the water. It wasn't very good from a lapidary quality standpoint. Yeah most of the material is pitted or not solid. You can find lapidary quality pieces though! It just takes time. And that's good to know, I'll try to be quick about my business just to be safe.
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Shannon
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2015
Posts: 145
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Post by Shannon on Feb 20, 2016 17:25:11 GMT -5
Just got done with tumbling my latest load, here are the two Anderson tumbles: hard to get a consistent shine with the host rock still lingering but the blue/purple chalcedony is extraordinary! there are solid pieces without host rock on them to be found at the lake which should tumble even better.
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nephrite
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2014
Posts: 12
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Post by nephrite on Feb 21, 2016 23:02:00 GMT -5
Nephrite: I used to fish and hunt rocks there a bit as a kid and the orby stuff you found might jasper with magnesite. That area contains fine examples of that material. Here's a pic....Mel Thanks Mel. The piece I took ended up being some type of metallic rock. The red orbs were rust. I used a wire brush to clean and it all came off. Now it's a landscape rock. I don't think poppy jasper is in that area.
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