|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 10, 2016 23:10:42 GMT -5
Outstanding!!! Great colors and pattern!! I love it when the reds and golds come together like that!
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 8, 2016 21:06:59 GMT -5
Heading to the Cady Mountains this weekend. Might have to stop in on the way!!!
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 3, 2016 20:45:59 GMT -5
Beautiful Shine!!! Another agate that has those same spots in its bands is Mulligan Peak agate from Arizona. Keep 'em comin' Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Feb 22, 2016 1:12:24 GMT -5
One of the best from there I've seen lately!!!
Great combination of colors!
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Feb 9, 2016 17:14:10 GMT -5
Nice finds!!! I'm assuming Spring Valley Swap Meet or did you go all the way to the Sports Arena...
I usually go to the Sports Arena but rarely find much. Too Commercial. Cool stuff!
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Feb 4, 2016 13:59:10 GMT -5
I guess I'm along the same line of preferences... My order of fun is : 1. The hunt....love to hound...and find that killer rough 2. Cut it up and see what you got 3. Cab up that perfect little area of the slab that shows off it's best aspect Although I do confess to spending a fair amount at Quartzsite every year (and occasionally a couple local shows) 'cause I just have to have more rocks, slabs,etc.... Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Feb 3, 2016 23:46:14 GMT -5
That first one is so SWEET!!! Are you going to cab it up?
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Jan 31, 2016 22:19:42 GMT -5
Hi guys Thought I would add to this if I may. A good reference work is "The Formation of Thundereggs (Lithophyse)" by Paul Colburn aka The Geode Kid. Its an excellent study with lots of scientific data and draws many logical conclusions. Paul dug tens of thousands of thundereggs and Geodes all over the U.S. and owned claims in several states. His lifetime collection is on display at the Lunes Mimbres Museum in Deming, New Mexico. Worth a stop if you're in the area or passing through. One of the things I can say from personal digging experience (dug a few thousand myself) is that the Lithophyse found in ash (degraded perlite) deposits, such as the Hauser Beds, Black Agate beds, etc, are not necessarily formed directly in the perlite, but rot (for lack of a better word) out of the rhyolite layers and settle into the ash layers. Through geologic action, they sink into the ash, sometimes into large groupings that unfortunately sink to the bottom of the ash over time. I have found "nests" of over 100 geodes at the Hauser Beds 6-12 feet down, but that was 10-12 years ago. Can't find 'em like that now. Amygdules can form in the same environment, sometimes in the same rock. I think the difference may be more about gas and silica content, temperature and moisture content of the rock during cooling and when the filling of the gas pockets occurred. Because the Texas agates are right in line with the large volcanic rift zone that runs from New Mexico thru Northern Mexico, I would think that they formed along that seam in pretty much every way possible and it is reflected in the stunning variety in what can be found. I think Mel nailed it that the agates have traveled a fair distance, but there are lots of areas in West Texas where similar stuff is found. On a totally differnet side note, on a trip some years ago to the Lucky Strike mine in Oregon, Kop and I opened a thunderegg filled with layers of silica pudding, agate that had not yet hardened. Cool experience.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Jan 25, 2016 22:19:19 GMT -5
Very nice!!!
Beautiful materials well worked!
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Jan 25, 2016 22:14:48 GMT -5
Those are beautiful.
I knew there was something I meant to look for at Australia Outback in Quartzsite...
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Jan 18, 2016 23:44:41 GMT -5
Very nice!!! That "Some sort of Jasper" looks like a different cut of Rocky Butte. The darker spots in the blue are typical. I have several hundred pounds collected at the mine several years ago (Thank you, Dale) and almost all the blues are like that.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Jan 11, 2016 0:10:16 GMT -5
Beautiful work as always.Killer materials,too. Your cabs are always world class. Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Dec 5, 2015 0:46:50 GMT -5
Hi all
The El Cajon Valley (CA) Gem and MIneral Show is this weekend at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds in San Diego's East County. Opens at 9 am. I'll be heading out there right after coaching my high school soccer game, I coach at the high school adjacent to the Rodeo grounds, but we're not at home for this one. Hope some of you local to SoCal can drop by.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Oct 10, 2015 0:18:18 GMT -5
Good score!
The two larger idk slabs could be Morrisonite, although I have some self collected material from the Rocky Butte mine (with Dale's permission) that looks just like that.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Sept 28, 2015 18:29:14 GMT -5
Very nice!! Reminds me to head for Texas in March or April!!
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 14, 2015 17:26:23 GMT -5
Haha..
L Ka Hone
We have a very Spanish influence here.
I always have trouble in Oregon with names like Madras and Owyhee...
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 13, 2015 20:42:22 GMT -5
Oh, they are definitely rattlesnakes...lol.
The diamondbacks I've seen here are thick and seem pretty slow, but the mountain rattlers are just slightly thicker than a gopher snake (not skinny like a garter snake) and really quick. Not fast like a racer, but they can cover a short distance much faster than I thought possible. Fortunately, they are not too quick to strike. Once, I was cleaning up some fallen palm fronds and when I pulled a long frond out of the pile, a 30 inch rattlesnake was curled up on it and he let me know his displeasure. Their rattle is very high pitched and it got my immediate attention. Fortunately, he bailed out on the confrontation. Chased him all the way to the edge of the property with a shovel. Didn't want him biting my dogs.
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 13, 2015 16:36:11 GMT -5
I usually encounter one or two a year. Probably southern pacific. The ones I usually find out in the yard (I have over an acre) are thin and unbelievably fast, and they tend not to rattle until we're in a tussle. Usually they are under 3 feet long. I have a resident king snake that I see every once in a while and I'm sure he's my best friend in the rattler department.
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 13, 2015 12:35:03 GMT -5
There is also a huge flock of those parrots that roosts in the trees at the south end of Kennedy park in El Cajon and there used to be one in Lemon Grove, but I haven't seen that one in several years.
A few years back we had a group of four golden eagles stop by on the way north? south? and that was fun to watch. They were huge birds, but I was told they were probably also juveniles. I think the other birds harass the migratory predators to get them to move on, but once they get full grown the smaller birds become prey and they pick their battles more carefully....lol.
You certainly see a lot more of the local wildlife near the reservoir than up on the hills. Watch out for rattlers. It's getting to be their time of year.
|
|
|
Post by socalagatehound on Mar 13, 2015 1:41:33 GMT -5
So cool to see the Ospreys back in the area. They're migrating up from Baja. When they come through, the other birds go nuts. If they're adults, the hill we live on goes dead quiet. No hawks, no crows, nothin'. You were very fortunate to get up close to one as they only stay a few days and like to roost high up in the tall palms. Very cool pic.
Years ago I was hiking up on Dictionary Hill and brought back a huge chunk of a mica pegmatite. It's now a yard rock. Keeps the cacti company...lol.
Craig
|
|