Post by elementary on Oct 21, 2010 3:24:06 GMT -5
It all began a few months ago when a friend of mine was asked to run the CFMS field trips out of Zzyzxx (an annual lapidary workshop) out in the middle of the Mojave. Ron, my friend, wanted to find some different places to go, so he called Bill Depue, owner of Diamond Pacific, which is located in Barstow. Bill said he'd take Ron out, and a few of us were lucky to tag along. Bill has been hounding the desert since the 1950's.
I couldn't go Saturday, and on this day they hit a few places along I-15, which heads out of CA to Las Vegas. They roamed the dumps in the Calico Mountains where silver lace onyx can be gathered, then headed over to Mule Canyon to dig for palm root. Evidently one great, though small, piece of translucent root made jaws drop. Then they hit the road to the Northern Cadys where sagenite was procured.
I left home 3:30 am Sunday morning and rolled into Barstow about 6:30. It was a beautiful sunrise.
I parked in the Diamond Pacific lot and waited for 7:00 to roll around.
Soon eight others arrived: Bill, Ron, his wife Jean, John, Brian, Tim, and John's son and friend pulled up within 5 minutes of each other. We exchanged basic introductions and headed out. The sun was going up and we were heading for our first stop - Hector Road for jasper. As we drove the desert slid by. It's my favorite topography, especially in the morning light.
Forty minutes later we pulled off the freeway and rolled over the desert pavement. We found small chunks of jasper, but we didn't stay long. All this stop was for was showing Ron a quick and easy jasper location.
We then returned to old Route 66
and drove towards a site John and Bryan and Tim had been to before. These guys have enormous energy and drive. They look at collecting sites, draw connections between them on maps, then hike the wilderness anticipating agate and jasper to follow the geology. They have hit quite a few strikes. This place was one of them.
We turned off the pavement and headed towards the Cady's. It had been a long time since I'd felt that excited. After being a rockhound for a few years, you realize how special unknown sites truly are, and how special it is to visit one.
We arrived and got ready for a mile hike through some sand to get there.
We were going to hunt plume agate and some moss. The material was found along a jagged ridge cutting across the front of the mountains.
I didn't take the camera, so sorry, no pics. I took only the necessary material needed to get there. I didn't want to have the camera cost me some extra material on the walk back.
We headed out and found the exposure. I slightly pulled a muscle so sat and rested at the plume site while the others hiked over the ridge to the moss. I grabbed from a discard pile a small bucket's worth of material (see other posting for photos). I then went and followed the ridge towards the others. Along it's top I found another exposed seam that the others hadn't seen and picked up several plates of what I'm hoping to be good plume. I then saw all the others hiking back. Several were holding boulders the size of pumpkins of the mossy material. At my request, John took me over (avoiding the area where we saw sidewinder tracks) and I gathered a small sandbag's worth of material. I could have filled three, but I knew it was going to be a brutal walk back.
When John and I returned to the plume site, many of the others had taken off for the trucks. Bill was thinking he'd find a way to get the truck closer to help pick up the rocks. (His rock was one of the biggest and he doesn't let them get away...)
Bill was successful and we loaded up the truck bed. I took the backseat and hitched a ride back to the road. The others hoofed it back.
As it was easier, I just stayed in Bill's truck and the caravan started again. I have to say, Bill is an amazing man and we swapped stories as we covered the miles. He relayed an incredible one about what he and his family did with the military armory they would occasionally find in the desert way back when. Suffice it to say, I never celebrated the 4th of July like he evidently did.
Soon we were in Ludlow and everybody grabbed an ice cream.
Then it was the road again. This time we were roaming by Broadwell Dry lake and turning in behind the mountains in search of Christmas Tree Agate, which has been known since the 1950's.
As we approached, lightning slapped at the mountains in the distance.
Didn't bother us. We drove on.
The scenery was gorgeous. I say again, I love the desert.
We arrived and tumbled out of the cars.
This hike wasn't so bad (still I didn't take the camera) - just a couple hundred yards at most.
We spread out at the site and people began scratching at the earth. A CFMS field trip had been out there the week before and it was as if a giant vacuum had come down and sucked everything up. There was little to be had.
I finally had the grand idea to dig in the debris left by the earliest diggers. Bill pointed out where he had pulled out a huge piece in the 1950s. I hit the discard pile there.
Evidently Christmas Tree Agate is a clear agate with red and green moss/plume that look like trees. I never found anything of any size, but I did get a bucket of small material from the place. We'll see how it turns out.
We headed back to the parking area where we saw lightning dancing on the Bristol Mountains across the valley. Then the sky opened up just enough to give us the perfect finish for out day: a rainbow.
We all shook hands and went on our way.
Ron, Jean and I ate dinner at Jimenez's off Barstow Road (highly recommended for Mexican food -- oddly enough, the main decor is stuffed animals of all kinds. I don't know why.)
I picked up a room at Best Western (recommended for cheap accommodations) and soon fell asleep thinking about the next day when Ron and I would hit some more locations.
I couldn't go Saturday, and on this day they hit a few places along I-15, which heads out of CA to Las Vegas. They roamed the dumps in the Calico Mountains where silver lace onyx can be gathered, then headed over to Mule Canyon to dig for palm root. Evidently one great, though small, piece of translucent root made jaws drop. Then they hit the road to the Northern Cadys where sagenite was procured.
I left home 3:30 am Sunday morning and rolled into Barstow about 6:30. It was a beautiful sunrise.
I parked in the Diamond Pacific lot and waited for 7:00 to roll around.
Soon eight others arrived: Bill, Ron, his wife Jean, John, Brian, Tim, and John's son and friend pulled up within 5 minutes of each other. We exchanged basic introductions and headed out. The sun was going up and we were heading for our first stop - Hector Road for jasper. As we drove the desert slid by. It's my favorite topography, especially in the morning light.
Forty minutes later we pulled off the freeway and rolled over the desert pavement. We found small chunks of jasper, but we didn't stay long. All this stop was for was showing Ron a quick and easy jasper location.
We then returned to old Route 66
and drove towards a site John and Bryan and Tim had been to before. These guys have enormous energy and drive. They look at collecting sites, draw connections between them on maps, then hike the wilderness anticipating agate and jasper to follow the geology. They have hit quite a few strikes. This place was one of them.
We turned off the pavement and headed towards the Cady's. It had been a long time since I'd felt that excited. After being a rockhound for a few years, you realize how special unknown sites truly are, and how special it is to visit one.
We arrived and got ready for a mile hike through some sand to get there.
We were going to hunt plume agate and some moss. The material was found along a jagged ridge cutting across the front of the mountains.
I didn't take the camera, so sorry, no pics. I took only the necessary material needed to get there. I didn't want to have the camera cost me some extra material on the walk back.
We headed out and found the exposure. I slightly pulled a muscle so sat and rested at the plume site while the others hiked over the ridge to the moss. I grabbed from a discard pile a small bucket's worth of material (see other posting for photos). I then went and followed the ridge towards the others. Along it's top I found another exposed seam that the others hadn't seen and picked up several plates of what I'm hoping to be good plume. I then saw all the others hiking back. Several were holding boulders the size of pumpkins of the mossy material. At my request, John took me over (avoiding the area where we saw sidewinder tracks) and I gathered a small sandbag's worth of material. I could have filled three, but I knew it was going to be a brutal walk back.
When John and I returned to the plume site, many of the others had taken off for the trucks. Bill was thinking he'd find a way to get the truck closer to help pick up the rocks. (His rock was one of the biggest and he doesn't let them get away...)
Bill was successful and we loaded up the truck bed. I took the backseat and hitched a ride back to the road. The others hoofed it back.
As it was easier, I just stayed in Bill's truck and the caravan started again. I have to say, Bill is an amazing man and we swapped stories as we covered the miles. He relayed an incredible one about what he and his family did with the military armory they would occasionally find in the desert way back when. Suffice it to say, I never celebrated the 4th of July like he evidently did.
Soon we were in Ludlow and everybody grabbed an ice cream.
Then it was the road again. This time we were roaming by Broadwell Dry lake and turning in behind the mountains in search of Christmas Tree Agate, which has been known since the 1950's.
As we approached, lightning slapped at the mountains in the distance.
Didn't bother us. We drove on.
The scenery was gorgeous. I say again, I love the desert.
We arrived and tumbled out of the cars.
This hike wasn't so bad (still I didn't take the camera) - just a couple hundred yards at most.
We spread out at the site and people began scratching at the earth. A CFMS field trip had been out there the week before and it was as if a giant vacuum had come down and sucked everything up. There was little to be had.
I finally had the grand idea to dig in the debris left by the earliest diggers. Bill pointed out where he had pulled out a huge piece in the 1950s. I hit the discard pile there.
Evidently Christmas Tree Agate is a clear agate with red and green moss/plume that look like trees. I never found anything of any size, but I did get a bucket of small material from the place. We'll see how it turns out.
We headed back to the parking area where we saw lightning dancing on the Bristol Mountains across the valley. Then the sky opened up just enough to give us the perfect finish for out day: a rainbow.
We all shook hands and went on our way.
Ron, Jean and I ate dinner at Jimenez's off Barstow Road (highly recommended for Mexican food -- oddly enough, the main decor is stuffed animals of all kinds. I don't know why.)
I picked up a room at Best Western (recommended for cheap accommodations) and soon fell asleep thinking about the next day when Ron and I would hit some more locations.