Trip swap? Kentucky agate/geodes/fossils for ??
Feb 2, 2019 16:00:29 GMT -5
via Tapatalk
Pat, rockjunquie, and 1 more like this
Post by rockhoundoz on Feb 2, 2019 16:00:29 GMT -5
Howdy all!
I'm not sure if this will appeal to anyone, but just thought I'd 'test the water' & see if there's any interest.
There's nothing better than traveling to new places to look for rocks & gems! While I enjoy camping & discovering sites on my own, I've been thinking it'd be fun to do a trade. The idea is that I host somebody on my own rockhounding home turf, in exchange to be hosted by you in a place that you know the rocky terrain.
What I would offer is a couple days out in Kentucky agate country, with myself as a knowledgeable guide. The details could be open for negotiation, but just to give an idea, my thoughts were along the lines of this: I could pick you up at a local airport (Cincinnati or Lexington), provide (somewhat rustic) accommodations, & take you out on a couple trips to hunt the famous Kentucky rocks.
In Kentucky agate hunting, there are 2 main difficulties which a local rockhound like myself can help you overcome. Firstly, it's difficult just to find a good, legal place to hunt KY agate. I know many excellent locations from decades of research & exploration. Secondly, once you get there, good KY agate is very difficult to identify. Without experience, you're likely to carry a pack/bucket full of look-alikes back up the hill. With my experience, I can make sure you only carry whatever good pieces you locate. It wouldn't be 'hand-holding', I'd be out there collecting for myself too, however, I would provide examples & some training to increase your odds of finding something good. Typical KY agate hunting consists of wading in cool water streams, searching the gravels for likely candidates.
In order to make a fair trade, the rockhunting that you offer in exchange should be of comparable good quality. While I'm really a fortification agate guy, I'd also go for petrified wood, nice jasper, smoky crystals, garnets or any number of interesting lapidary material. If it's something that sounds good to you, try me, I'm up for many possibilities. I'd also consider trading you a KY agate trip in exchange for lapidary training, especially silver working! I know how to cut/shape/carve rocks, but my metalworking skills need a lot of work.
Also, you'd be welcome to bring 1 buddy to join you if you wish.
Feel free to PM if that's better for ya.
Also, I'll make sure you don't go home empty handed!
& please let me know if this sounds too crazy or breaks any forum rules 😅.
While I've posted most of these pictures on the forum already, here are some examples of what's out there,
Most KY agate is this type of yellow material:
But then on most trips I find one or two pieces that are of a more interesting/rare quality:
Some fossil examples. There are lots of marine fossils, horn corals, 'death plates', bivalves, cherts with fossil inclusions etc:
I'm not sure if this will appeal to anyone, but just thought I'd 'test the water' & see if there's any interest.
There's nothing better than traveling to new places to look for rocks & gems! While I enjoy camping & discovering sites on my own, I've been thinking it'd be fun to do a trade. The idea is that I host somebody on my own rockhounding home turf, in exchange to be hosted by you in a place that you know the rocky terrain.
What I would offer is a couple days out in Kentucky agate country, with myself as a knowledgeable guide. The details could be open for negotiation, but just to give an idea, my thoughts were along the lines of this: I could pick you up at a local airport (Cincinnati or Lexington), provide (somewhat rustic) accommodations, & take you out on a couple trips to hunt the famous Kentucky rocks.
In Kentucky agate hunting, there are 2 main difficulties which a local rockhound like myself can help you overcome. Firstly, it's difficult just to find a good, legal place to hunt KY agate. I know many excellent locations from decades of research & exploration. Secondly, once you get there, good KY agate is very difficult to identify. Without experience, you're likely to carry a pack/bucket full of look-alikes back up the hill. With my experience, I can make sure you only carry whatever good pieces you locate. It wouldn't be 'hand-holding', I'd be out there collecting for myself too, however, I would provide examples & some training to increase your odds of finding something good. Typical KY agate hunting consists of wading in cool water streams, searching the gravels for likely candidates.
In order to make a fair trade, the rockhunting that you offer in exchange should be of comparable good quality. While I'm really a fortification agate guy, I'd also go for petrified wood, nice jasper, smoky crystals, garnets or any number of interesting lapidary material. If it's something that sounds good to you, try me, I'm up for many possibilities. I'd also consider trading you a KY agate trip in exchange for lapidary training, especially silver working! I know how to cut/shape/carve rocks, but my metalworking skills need a lot of work.
Also, you'd be welcome to bring 1 buddy to join you if you wish.
Feel free to PM if that's better for ya.
Also, I'll make sure you don't go home empty handed!
& please let me know if this sounds too crazy or breaks any forum rules 😅.
While I've posted most of these pictures on the forum already, here are some examples of what's out there,
Most KY agate is this type of yellow material:
But then on most trips I find one or two pieces that are of a more interesting/rare quality:
Some fossil examples. There are lots of marine fossils, horn corals, 'death plates', bivalves, cherts with fossil inclusions etc: