Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 8, 2009 12:29:31 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Well, as some of you might know, moving cross country can be kind of a pain when you're a collector. I'm still having to dig through boxes of rocks to try and locate some of my stuff. Anyway, this bunch is a bunch of plume rough and endcuts I couldn't seem to locate but finally found. Couldn't read my own writing so overlooked the box. Here are a few pics: Thanks for lookin.....Mel Posted slabs of this hunk before but this is the end of the block. This odd Flame out of Mexico just kept getting better and better as I cut through the vein. It surprised me to find this one, Wingate Plume. Thought I slabbed or sold it all years ago. A hunk of Graveyard from my one trip up that way maybe 30 years ago. Finally I found my Bloody Basin Plume rough stash. I actually got these pieces for a dollar a hunk at Quartzite last time I went. Would have bought all the guy had but I was so bloody far from the car and my pack was about as heavy as I could carry. Still haven't found my OJ slabs from this same trip. Another one I had forgotten I had any of left, Owl Hole Plume from an eon ago. Couple of more Mexican endcuts, First is Bird of paradise Plume and the second, Red Lightning Plume.
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Post by stonesthatrock on Jun 8, 2009 13:41:49 GMT -5
oh mel, those are outstanding pieces. I bet your glad you found them. I go to quartzsite every yr and don't find deals like that. lol that red lightning plume is really beautiful.
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Post by Bejewelme on Jun 8, 2009 14:00:41 GMT -5
Yep the red lightning is my fav too! WOW what treasures, it is like finding them all over again, for free!!!!!
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coasthunterjay
starting to spend too much on rocks
Carefull ive got a gun....and a closet full of rocks
Member since May 2009
Posts: 155
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Post by coasthunterjay on Jun 8, 2009 15:15:55 GMT -5
WOW MEL! that wingate and last picture are awesome materials....really like the coloration in the stuff in the last picture! way cool!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 8, 2009 15:28:42 GMT -5
Yep, the Red Lightning is a favorite of mine too. Went through a whole bin at Quartzite to find one good piece. Shows up on E-Bay in more of a mossy form now and then but usually not quite as nice as that piece. The rarest though is the Owl Hole Plume. Think that area is in Death Valley park now and there never was very much in the first place. Mostly sagenite from that area but when you find one, the plume is really nice ranging from real fluffy types to multicolored ones that look like colored dendrites. Those are wonderful in transmitted light. I'm still looking for my favorite slabs and I'll post them when I figure out where they are *L*.
Stonesthatrock: I don't know how many years you've gone to Quartzite but wow, back in the days when it was a tailgate show and before the gimcrack and geegaw/swapmeet folks took over it was a truly incredible place. I've seen whole trailers of African Queen Picture jasper when it first came out of Africa. Canadian River Plume fresh from the Texas ranches and one of a kind agate types from some private property I've never seen since. Some old prospectors from Durango used to dump truckloads of the finest moss and plume I've ever seen in huge piles for a buck a pound. Monster piles of various lace types at 50 cents a pound. I had little money then so couldn't buy much but Goddang, I'd sure have me a great few hours with a squirt bottle picking out what I could afford...Mel
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Post by rockmanken on Jun 8, 2009 15:52:12 GMT -5
Great new/old find, Mel. My favorite is the Mexican flame. all of them are great. Ken
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Post by sitnwrap on Jun 8, 2009 18:09:37 GMT -5
I bet it was a great surprise to find what you thought you didn't have. Those are heart stoppers.
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stoneviews
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2009
Posts: 1,864
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Post by stoneviews on Jun 8, 2009 18:44:54 GMT -5
Very nice rock, all of them, I like the top one, and second.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Jun 8, 2009 20:18:18 GMT -5
I can certainly see why you kept them! Beautiful!
Chuck
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Post by frane on Jun 8, 2009 20:31:06 GMT -5
:drool: :drool: WOW! I love your first Flame! That is a great one! The rest are fantastic too! Man Mel, that has to be fun digging through boxes at your house! Fran
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Post by Michael John on Jun 9, 2009 0:43:43 GMT -5
I remember that you were looking for this stuff after you moved! No wonder! OMGosh! Of course, the Wingate Pass is my favorite!
Of course, when you posted these pics, you had to have figured that I'd wanna know about that Owl Hole Plume. If memory serves me correctly, you haven't been there in decades. Did YOU collect that particular piece? I haven't found plume agate out there yet. IF you did collect it, would you happen to remember ABOUT where you found it in that area? For instance, do you recall if you just picked it up off of the ground or was it in the mountains behind the spring? ALSO, if it's not asking too much, would you mind taking a couple of pics of the "outside" for me? Maybe if I know what I'm looking for I might find some!
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Post by Woodyrock on Jun 9, 2009 1:54:08 GMT -5
Most of my thoughts have aleardy been stated by others, but opening boxes at your place is obvoiusly better than open wrapped presents! It is nice to see material that is now offlimits due to bombing ranges, parks etc. whilst at the same time it makes you hurt. Woody
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Post by NatureNut on Jun 9, 2009 7:16:23 GMT -5
:drool: :drool: :drool:
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 9, 2009 8:40:27 GMT -5
*L* Dang MJ I knew you were gonna ask me about that. Man, it was right after I got out of the army in like 1972 and I was working off Mary Francis Strongs " Desert Gem trails" map of 1971. I don't remember any spring where I was. We dug for the sagenite but the plume was float from a nearby wash. At that time it was barely outside the monument but back then the rangers actually helped you find rock and arrowhead locations and weren't so militant about enforcement against rockhounds. The plume was float from vein deposits while the sagenite was in nodules you had to dig for and there weren't many. A lot of my sagenite came from an old rockhound that had collected there way before I did. You should be able to find a copy of the Strong book on Amazon and I simply followed her map and then wandered out of her marked areas as all those were always hunted out because everyone hunted the mapped locations. A picture of the outside wouldn't show you much. All the plume pieces have a very plain looking calcite rich crust of a whitish color that appears slightly frothy looking and porous. I'd not have noticed them if I hadn't been used to seeing similar crust on Cady's Moss. You actually had to chip vein hunks to see if they had anything inside as lots were just plain blue/gray agate with a tiny bit of sagenite along the edges. Anyway, don't think it'll help much but here's a pic of the exteriors...Mel
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highplainsdrifter
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,266
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Post by highplainsdrifter on Jun 9, 2009 10:39:13 GMT -5
Wow, very nice stuff. The Flame agate and Bloody Basin really stand out.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jun 9, 2009 20:29:23 GMT -5
Beautiful stuff!!
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chinook203
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since February 2006
Posts: 849
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Post by chinook203 on Jun 10, 2009 22:40:30 GMT -5
Gorgeous double finds! It is fun finding them again!
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Post by Michael John on Jun 11, 2009 0:06:03 GMT -5
Thanks, Mel!!! Believe me, EVERY little clue helps! Seeing the outside of those stones WILL help, and I'll be watching for them when I'm out there. I'm not sure, but it sounds like you're describing Sagenite Canyon, not OHS. Sagenite Canyon is only a few miles away from OHS. The fact that you don't recall the spring is my primary reason for thinking that. When you first arrive at OHS, it would be REAL hard to miss the spring ... In 1972, there would have been more evidence of the previous mining that had taken-place there ... it's been "cleaned-up" since then. Now, here's Sagenite Canyon. Maybe these pics will bring back some nice memories for you ... Most folks who visit one of these places would probably visit both. Since Sagenite Canyon wasn't part of Death Valley back then, most hounds would have spent most or all of their time there, with OHS being little more than a short novelty visit. Just curious more than anything. It's cool to know somone who was in the area back when hounding was popular there. After my experience at Sagenite Canyon, however, there's a pretty good chance that I won't go back there again.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 11, 2009 13:47:35 GMT -5
MJ: Checked my map and we were about 4 1/2 miles north of Leach dry Lake and it did look almost exactly like your pictures of sagenite canyon (though I gotta say lots of that area looks pretty much alike). I think I remember the wash with the plume as being a wash or two to the northeast of the sagenite which would probably put it in the park now....Mel
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Post by krazydiamond on Jun 11, 2009 15:47:40 GMT -5
those are some awesome pieces of plume.....like finding buried treasure, eh?
KD
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