abalonehound
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2021
Posts: 14
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Post by abalonehound on Jan 12, 2021 17:57:03 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I'm excited to start learning and sharing on this forum. I'm a young professional who lives in Northern California. I feel like the best part about being an adult with my own income is I can get into the hobbies that always interested me in my childhood!
I started my rockhounding interests about two years ago when I started taking home rocks from the beach. I bought a vibratory tumbler that I've been using for about a year now. In the more recent months, I've developed an interest in more targeted rockhounding trips. For example, a couple months ago I visited Jade Cove in Big Sur. I'm looking for more tips to the trade, and I'd like to start learning more lapidary arts like cab making.
Anyway, excited to interact with y'all and learn more!
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Post by Starguy on Jan 12, 2021 18:10:17 GMT -5
Welcome from North Idaho abalonehound . You will find lots of good advice here. You might even see a rock or two that will make your mouth water.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 12, 2021 18:58:50 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
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Post by opalpyrexia on Jan 12, 2021 20:03:28 GMT -5
Welcome from Washington.
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Post by Pat on Jan 12, 2021 20:34:11 GMT -5
Welcome from California.
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rocket
spending too much on rocks
Quality slabs for quality cabs in 2022
Member since September 2020
Posts: 292
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Post by rocket on Jan 12, 2021 21:59:57 GMT -5
Welcome from the East Coast, Maryland...I discovered that I had to retire before beginning to indulge my rock fantasies...Rocket
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jasonshort
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2019
Posts: 113
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Post by jasonshort on Jan 13, 2021 0:20:45 GMT -5
Welcome from Eureka, california
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Post by stephan on Jan 13, 2021 1:13:35 GMT -5
Welcome, neighbor, from Davis
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 13, 2021 8:22:15 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! I consider hounding as a treasure hunt without an X marking the spot. LOL. And I'll admit I'm addicted to finding the X's!
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Brian on Jan 13, 2021 8:47:26 GMT -5
I feel like the best part about being an adult with my own income is I can get into the hobbies that always interested me in my childhood! I couldn’t agree with this statement more! When I brought up a rock tumbler to my wife, she and I both talked about how much we always wanted to do it as kids but never got the chance. Welcome from the East Coast!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,681
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 18, 2021 11:41:43 GMT -5
Welcome
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 19, 2021 12:24:58 GMT -5
Welcome from the Desert Southwest!
I was also at Jade Cove just about 2 years ago. I found some decent green Chert, and one nice chunk of rock composed of California Nephrite mixed with green Chert.
I used to live in Santa Clara valley for 30 years. And I often wish I still lived there now due to the vast amounts of quality rock in your neighborhood.
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abalonehound
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2021
Posts: 14
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Post by abalonehound on Jan 20, 2021 10:14:01 GMT -5
I used to live in Santa Clara valley for 30 years. And I often wish I still lived there now due to the vast amounts of quality rock in your neighborhood. I would love some tips on locations or rocks to look out for! I'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to searching out locations or figuring out which rocks and minerals are in a particular area to hunt for. I find jasper and chalcedony on the beach so that's pretty much what I'm familiar with. Any places that are easy to go to on the weekends to look for agate or fossils or petrified wood would be stellar. Or any other tips or knowledge you're willing to share!
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Post by stephan on Jan 20, 2021 10:20:23 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! I consider hounding as a treasure hunt without an X marking the spot. LOL. And I'll admit I'm addicted to finding the X's! Sometimes you can literally find an "x" Chiastolite - Massachusetts by Peter Cristofono, on Flickr Disclosure: neither the chiastolite (fairy cross), nor the photo are mine.
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jan 23, 2021 14:45:11 GMT -5
I used to live in Santa Clara valley for 30 years. And I often wish I still lived there now due to the vast amounts of quality rock in your neighborhood. I would love some tips on locations or rocks to look out for! I'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to searching out locations or figuring out which rocks and minerals are in a particular area to hunt for. I find jasper and chalcedony on the beach so that's pretty much what I'm familiar with. Any places that are easy to go to on the weekends to look for agate or fossils or petrified wood would be stellar. Or any other tips or knowledge you're willing to share! I can try to help, but I didn't really have a rockhounding interest until 20 years after moving to Southern Nevada.
Southern California - I've taken many trips to Southern California to find Jaspers, Agates and occasionally other Chalcedony's. Mostly around Barstow, Lavic, and the Cady mountains. There are two outstanding sources which I would highly recommend if you ever feel like traveling south to the Mohave desert, and it is called "Rockhound Barstow" by Justin Zzyzx. It is not expensive and had a digital Google Map accompanyment. The other is called "Desert Gem Trails" by Mary Frances Strong.
Central California - My explorations are limited to the coastal regions between SLO and Hearst Castle. When the tide goes out you will have a vast selection of California Nephrite, Jaspers and Agates among others. I mostly go to the river inlets where they meet the coast. I have no specific location, and have only been a few times.
Northern California - Everything inland around Lake Berryessa, Clear Lake, and all rivers, creeks and tributaries around (such as Putah Creek, North Putah, Pope Creek) and you will find extensive varieties of Jasper Agates, Chalcedony, and varieties of Chert. The only problem is that you will find that a lot of the best stretches cross private property. So knocking on doors can result in some great finds. My experience here is very limited.
There is some fantastic Jasper in Morgan Hill. Specifically I know not where. And I don't even know if any of it is left actually. Due to the massive concentration of people in the zone, it is unlikely that there is a whole lot left. But almost no doubt there is some.
But if I had SFO bay as my base, then spending weekends in the Napa wine country and scouring local tributaries would be something that would happen very often for me!
Best of luck!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jan 23, 2021 18:29:19 GMT -5
There is some fantastic Jasper in Morgan Hill. Specifically I know not where. And I don't even know if any of it is left actually. Due to the massive concentration of people in the zone, it is unlikely that there is a whole lot left. But almost no doubt there is some. Bill, you are correct about the "massive concentration in the zone." The biggest problem with some of the old locations is they have now been built over to accommodate all the peoples! Mel Sabre52 used to tell stories of how some of his favorite Morgan Hill poppy jasper locations have been obliterated, are now large tracts of houses. The fifties and sixties were a very popular time for rockhounding, rock collectingd and lapidary work in Southern California. Many large aerospace manufacturing businesses (here in San Diego, General Dynamics, Rohr, just two of them), had their own family-friendly rock clubs. They went camping on field trips, held meetings (cocktail hours, lol), and had rock shops/equipment for the members to use. Those days are gone forever. There are still locations and new material being found, but they are few and far between. Less and less land available to hound on now (thanks, govt.), and when someone does find something good, the word seems to always get out. In order to protect it, the location gets shut down. If it's not shut down, hordes of people descend on it with heavy equipment and clean it out. I have seen it happen out at the Hauser Geode beds. This is the very reason rockhounds protect the location of their favorite hounding sites. Some areas have more material than many rockhounds can use in a lifetime. Stick with places like Bill has mentioned, Mojave desert, Cady Mtns, Barstow, etc. Love and recommend the Zzyzx book!
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Post by HankRocks on Jan 23, 2021 19:51:43 GMT -5
There is some fantastic Jasper in Morgan Hill. Specifically I know not where. And I don't even know if any of it is left actually. Due to the massive concentration of people in the zone, it is unlikely that there is a whole lot left. But almost no doubt there is some. Bill, you are correct about the "massive concentration in the zone." The biggest problem with some of the old locations is they have now been built over to accommodate all the peoples! Mel Sabre52 used to tell stories of how some of his favorite Morgan Hill poppy jasper locations have been obliterated, are now large tracts of houses. The fifties and sixties were a very popular time for rockhounding, rock collectingd and lapidary work in Southern California. Many large aerospace manufacturing businesses (here in San Diego, General Dynamics, Rohr, just two of them), had their own family-friendly rock clubs. They went camping on field trips, held meetings (cocktail hours, lol), and had rock shops/equipment for the members to use. Those days are gone forever. There are still locations and new material being found, but they are few and far between. Less and less land available to hound on now (thanks, govt.), and when someone does find something good, the word seems to always get out. In order to protect it, the location gets shut down. If it's not shut down, hordes of people descend on it with heavy equipment and clean it out. I have seen it happen out at the Hauser Geode beds. This is the very reason rockhounds protect the location of their favorite hounding sites. Some areas have more material than many rockhounds can use in a lifetime. Stick with places like Bill has mentioned, Mojave desert, Cady Mtns, Barstow, etc. Love and recommend the Zzyzx book! That's one advantage(disadvantage) to most of the collecting in Texas, all the good material is on private land. It does keep the supply at these good locations plentiful. Unfortunately those places are subject to the whims of the landowner and new any new owners that come into the picture. See Singleton, Walker, Woodward, etc....
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Post by TheRock on Mar 1, 2021 14:26:20 GMT -5
Welcome to RTH Forum from S/W Michigan! ~Duke
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