Post by elementary on Oct 21, 2010 3:51:26 GMT -5
Monday I woke up and stretched, looked out the window
grabbed food and ice at the local quicky mart and went to Diamond Pacific to meet Ron at 8:00.
We asked if I could leave my truck in the parking lot and received permission, and then we headed off to Lowe's to buy more buckets. (Never can have enough buckets.)
Our first stop for the day (and it was only us on Monday - everyone else had responsibilities) was going to be the Hector Hills. Ron had never been there, but he needed a place where there was a fair amount of material and easy access. Hector fit the bill.
As we drove along the I-40 I again marveled at the scenery.
Soon we were getting off on Hector Road again, but this time we turned south. Here we got a view of Pisgah crater and the miners slowly stripping it down.
Then it was down the pipeline road and the hills. Here we parked and made a couple excursions into the rambling hills.
If you don't know the Hectors, they are filled with tons of broken pieces of agate. What makes it fun, even though most every piece has been slammed with a hammer and you need to hunt to find good stuff, are the colors. The agate here can be ruined agate with oranges and reds, yellow, black, white, purple (rarely), and some others. The tone is pastel. Nowhere else in this region can I think of a site that offers this type of material.
And the view is impressive.
I filled a bucket and Ron grabbed some pieces as well. It seems that this location will be used by him later for his field trips.
Our next goal was the Southern Cady's. Tim the previous day had given me a tip to find some incredible moss, but we couldn't find a road into the area and had to give up. The effort cost us quite a bit of time. Still, love the mountains here.
We did, though, find a place that had some trace agate in the wash. We hiked for a while (about a mile) and found only frustratingly unhelpful amounts of agate, but some of it was filled with red stringers which made us eager to find more.
Finally Ron said he'd go back to the car and move it up a couple pole line spots. Below us Ludlow continued serving ice cream...
While Ron got the car, I followed the trace around to a large wash and there I hit the source. Large pieces of plume agate were strewn about in the debris fallen from the cliffs, as was vugs filled with quartz crystals. We only had a bit of time and I filled my backback.
Then it was time to leave. I had to get back home. Ron, lucky dude, had one more day of hunting to go.
We are hoping to get back to there later this season.
Finally it was time to head home. It was going to be a long drive so no dinner with Ron tonight. He drove me back to my truck and I watched the clouds gather for another bout of lightning.
After picking up my truck and transferring material, I headed home and experienced quite a thrilling electrical show through the Antelope Valley. One lightning strike knocked down the grid for a few minutes because the whole valley went dark after it.
Anyway, I got home Monday night and finally had a chance to clean up my stock this evening. I'll post it next.
Lowell
grabbed food and ice at the local quicky mart and went to Diamond Pacific to meet Ron at 8:00.
We asked if I could leave my truck in the parking lot and received permission, and then we headed off to Lowe's to buy more buckets. (Never can have enough buckets.)
Our first stop for the day (and it was only us on Monday - everyone else had responsibilities) was going to be the Hector Hills. Ron had never been there, but he needed a place where there was a fair amount of material and easy access. Hector fit the bill.
As we drove along the I-40 I again marveled at the scenery.
Soon we were getting off on Hector Road again, but this time we turned south. Here we got a view of Pisgah crater and the miners slowly stripping it down.
Then it was down the pipeline road and the hills. Here we parked and made a couple excursions into the rambling hills.
If you don't know the Hectors, they are filled with tons of broken pieces of agate. What makes it fun, even though most every piece has been slammed with a hammer and you need to hunt to find good stuff, are the colors. The agate here can be ruined agate with oranges and reds, yellow, black, white, purple (rarely), and some others. The tone is pastel. Nowhere else in this region can I think of a site that offers this type of material.
And the view is impressive.
I filled a bucket and Ron grabbed some pieces as well. It seems that this location will be used by him later for his field trips.
Our next goal was the Southern Cady's. Tim the previous day had given me a tip to find some incredible moss, but we couldn't find a road into the area and had to give up. The effort cost us quite a bit of time. Still, love the mountains here.
We did, though, find a place that had some trace agate in the wash. We hiked for a while (about a mile) and found only frustratingly unhelpful amounts of agate, but some of it was filled with red stringers which made us eager to find more.
Finally Ron said he'd go back to the car and move it up a couple pole line spots. Below us Ludlow continued serving ice cream...
While Ron got the car, I followed the trace around to a large wash and there I hit the source. Large pieces of plume agate were strewn about in the debris fallen from the cliffs, as was vugs filled with quartz crystals. We only had a bit of time and I filled my backback.
Then it was time to leave. I had to get back home. Ron, lucky dude, had one more day of hunting to go.
We are hoping to get back to there later this season.
Finally it was time to head home. It was going to be a long drive so no dinner with Ron tonight. He drove me back to my truck and I watched the clouds gather for another bout of lightning.
After picking up my truck and transferring material, I headed home and experienced quite a thrilling electrical show through the Antelope Valley. One lightning strike knocked down the grid for a few minutes because the whole valley went dark after it.
Anyway, I got home Monday night and finally had a chance to clean up my stock this evening. I'll post it next.
Lowell