Post by beefjello on Oct 8, 2007 13:34:24 GMT -5
Howdy! Christa and I set off Saturday morning for Alamo Lake. Some friends of ours had recently purchased the RV resort out there and were having a celebration Saturday night for their son who had just returned from Iraq. We arrived in the 'area' around noon, and the party didn't start until 7.. so we had several hours to explore back roads and the desert out there.
We took off down the Pipeline Road, which wasn't much of a road and got pretty darn hairy at times. After a couple hours we came across Lincoln Ranch road which, of course led us to Lincoln Ranch, a little oasis out in the middle of nowhere.
We did a bit of rock hounding out there, finding a few things but not much, then headed out. Instead of turning back on the treacherous Pipeline road we followed the ranch road for many miles figuring we might end up near Bouse. At one point we got close to some mountains that I had a good feeling about. Climbing a bit I found some really neat lacey type agates weathering out of the hillside there. Here's the area
A strange looking saguaro near the hillside
After finding a few rocks it was time to move on. Not too far along the way we found a handsome young wild burro walking the road
The burros are descendants of the pack animals that the prospectors brought out in the late 1800's. They've established themselves very well throughout the Arizona deserts.
Time to move on. We came across an 'information area' out there that showed us where we were. As I thought we were pretty close to Bouse, but hadn't realized how close we were to Swansea and the Planet Mine that we had tried unsuccessfully to visit twice last January! It'll have to wait for another day as it's getting late and we have a party to attend. The info spot showed us another dirt road leading back to Alamo, the Powerline Road, and that's what we chose to return on. This was nearly as hairy as the Pipeline road, but and hour and a half later we made it to Wayside.. just in time for BBQ chicken, adult beverages and karaoke
The next morning we hit the lake
And caught a few nice fish
Before we left the lake we drove up to a ridge I had spotted last January to look around and bingo! We found it to be loaded with all sorts of nice agates and jaspers. We were both pretty wiped out from the trip by then, but spent a good hour or so hounding the ridge. I now know where to zero in next time we come back
Ok so here's our haul
First some of the finds from near Lincoln Ranch
Some nice subtle reds in this stuff
My token 'yard rock'
This is the lacey stuff I found on the way out
And the stuff we found yesterday coming back from the lake
Love these red and yellow pieces. The dendritic piece in the top left looks very promising
Some nice honey jasper
It was a great weekend, and we sure had fun. I hope you've enjoyed the pics. Thanks for looking!
We took off down the Pipeline Road, which wasn't much of a road and got pretty darn hairy at times. After a couple hours we came across Lincoln Ranch road which, of course led us to Lincoln Ranch, a little oasis out in the middle of nowhere.
We did a bit of rock hounding out there, finding a few things but not much, then headed out. Instead of turning back on the treacherous Pipeline road we followed the ranch road for many miles figuring we might end up near Bouse. At one point we got close to some mountains that I had a good feeling about. Climbing a bit I found some really neat lacey type agates weathering out of the hillside there. Here's the area
A strange looking saguaro near the hillside
After finding a few rocks it was time to move on. Not too far along the way we found a handsome young wild burro walking the road
The burros are descendants of the pack animals that the prospectors brought out in the late 1800's. They've established themselves very well throughout the Arizona deserts.
Time to move on. We came across an 'information area' out there that showed us where we were. As I thought we were pretty close to Bouse, but hadn't realized how close we were to Swansea and the Planet Mine that we had tried unsuccessfully to visit twice last January! It'll have to wait for another day as it's getting late and we have a party to attend. The info spot showed us another dirt road leading back to Alamo, the Powerline Road, and that's what we chose to return on. This was nearly as hairy as the Pipeline road, but and hour and a half later we made it to Wayside.. just in time for BBQ chicken, adult beverages and karaoke
The next morning we hit the lake
And caught a few nice fish
Before we left the lake we drove up to a ridge I had spotted last January to look around and bingo! We found it to be loaded with all sorts of nice agates and jaspers. We were both pretty wiped out from the trip by then, but spent a good hour or so hounding the ridge. I now know where to zero in next time we come back
Ok so here's our haul
First some of the finds from near Lincoln Ranch
Some nice subtle reds in this stuff
My token 'yard rock'
This is the lacey stuff I found on the way out
And the stuff we found yesterday coming back from the lake
Love these red and yellow pieces. The dendritic piece in the top left looks very promising
Some nice honey jasper
It was a great weekend, and we sure had fun. I hope you've enjoyed the pics. Thanks for looking!