jasperfanatic
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 456
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Post by jasperfanatic on Jun 28, 2021 23:26:43 GMT -5
So, I thought I'd better update this thread with an account of my trip... Man, what a great story. There were some parts in there that had me howling, it seemed like you saw the humor in them too (I hope LOL)...and some because I've been in a bunch of those situations and can relate. Dude, I was almost crying laughing when you were talking about the low water as I pictured you trying to scooch the raft along before saying 'to hell with this' and getting out to drag/carry it down river. I've been there, and after a while those low water spots seem like miles Also, I don't care how tough you are, being out in the wilderness solo without shelter and in the dark can be a bit unnerving, definitely not the greatest night's sleep you'll ever have. Regardless of the discomfort, fear, elements and self inflicted injury you put yourself out there and went after it, so good on you! Besides, your version was may more interesting (and probably memorable) than a chill drift resulting in buckets of rocks LOL. That's the stuff that reminds you that you're alive! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
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Post by stephan on Jun 29, 2021 1:46:59 GMT -5
Well, jasoninsd did get off easier than one story I read years ago, about a guy who was liberating a large chunk of jade at a Big Sur beach. A long project, so he slept on the beach. A sneaker wave got him, and sucked him out into the surf. After he released himself from his sleeping bag, he discovered that the wave also got his clothes. Had to call his mom for a pickup. I think it was in the Orcutt Mineral Society’s online newsletter. Problem with finding it, is that there are A LOT of them archived, and they don’t appear to be searchable
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Post by jasoninsd on Jun 29, 2021 20:34:35 GMT -5
So here's the story. I was under the impression that WAS a Fairburn. I was so proud of it! After I came home, I shot a picture over to stewdogg to show him the find from the adventure and he's the one that said it looked like a Teepee. After I got to inspecting it...and was honest about the assessment of the fortification colors and the matrix color and material, I had to acquiesce and admit to myself it was a Teepee Canyon Agate rather than a Fairburn Agate. Had I realized it was a Teepee Canyon Agate when the "rescue crew" showed up, I very well might not have gone with them! LOL Lol, Jason never said it was a Fairburn when he sent the pic... I looked at the picture of a beautiful rock and said to myself, looks like the host rock for a Teepee agate and then thought the pattern looked Teepee enough to my very unknowledgeable eyes. I was really patting myself on the back on how far I've come when I boldly said to him that it was an awesome looking river rounded Teepee agate! The response was bummed and disappointingly agreeing with my accidental ID of his treasure. I will extend the offer that if you ever get sick of it and never want to look at it again, you can always send it my way. I'm glad to hear you didn't get washed away, squished by a widow maker or beat up by a raccoon on your adventure! Although, I can't stop thinking that your sister-in-law set up a spring loaded boxing glove to pay you back for the sleepless night. I will have to say that had you seen me when I was reading your text, you could have visually seen my shoulders drop in what could only be described as Fairburn defeat for that find! LOL - I should have been WAY more honest with myself when looking at it out in the field, and realized it was a "gorgeous Teepee Canyon Agate" versus a fantastic Fairburn! LOL I will add your name to the list of willing recipients for the wayward Fairburn - errr....Teepee Canyon Agate! LOL I will NEVER open a can of nuts should I ever get them as a gift from my sister-in-law! LOL So, I thought I'd better update this thread with an account of my trip... Man, what a great story. There were some parts in there that had me howling, it seemed like you saw the humor in them too (I hope LOL)...and some because I've been in a bunch of those situations and can relate. Dude, I was almost crying laughing when you were talking about the low water as I pictured you trying to scooch the raft along before saying 'to hell with this' and getting out to drag/carry it down river. I've been there, and after a while those low water spots seem like miles Also, I don't care how tough you are, being out in the wilderness solo without shelter and in the dark can be a bit unnerving, definitely not the greatest night's sleep you'll ever have. Regardless of the discomfort, fear, elements and self inflicted injury you put yourself out there and went after it, so good on you! Besides, your version was may more interesting (and probably memorable) than a chill drift resulting in buckets of rocks LOL. That's the stuff that reminds you that you're alive! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! Thank you so much! Sometimes it just comes down to laughing or crying in a situation...and I was chuckling the whole time! When you were picturing me "scooching", you would have been absolutely correct. It reached a point where I just refused to get out of the raft anymore...and I was trying to maneuver the raft through the low spots...I'm sure I looked so much like a dog dragging his butt against the carpet! LOL - Well, jasoninsd did get off easier than one story I read years ago, about a guy who was liberating a large chunk of jade at a Big Sur beach. A long project, so he slept on the beach. A sneaker wave got him, and sucked him out into the surf. After he released himself from his sleeping bag, he discovered that the wave also got his clothes. Had to call his mom for a pickup. I think it was in the Orcutt Mineral Society’s online newsletter. Problem with finding it, is that there are A LOT of them archived, and they don’t appear to be searchable I thought that raccoon was sneaking into camp to try and look for some food...maybe that masked bandit was actually coming into camp to abscond with my clothes! LOL USGS has real time flow rates for most river systems and often multiple gauge points along any given river. Keep an eye on the water levels during rain events and get an idea of an optimal flow rate on the river to allow for floating, the higher flows will take you along at a quicker pace. In my experience 300-600 cfs is the low end of actually being able to row, but walking while dragging the raft might be just as fast. That’s a good size to look in the water if it’s clear. 600-1200 cfs rowing will certainly be faster, and you’re getting into a river size where you want to keep your safety in mind. I fish an aluminum drift boat and the levels are usually between 1200 and 3000. I think anyone in a kayak or raft in that size river is crazy, but they do it. There have been a couple people asking me if I knew I way to check on the water levels...and I had no idea there was this data available! I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for posting this! Thank you thank you thank you! I will definitely be checking this out the next time I'm thinking about floating the river!
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callmerob
starting to spend too much on rocks
I really like a dirt road
Member since September 2019
Posts: 131
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Post by callmerob on Jun 30, 2021 12:56:07 GMT -5
Absolutely love the story, jasoninsd. And I'm a big fan of inflatables, though I did scare myself silly in a 1-man inflatable raft when out in the kelp sharpshooting for calico bass. Was dropping a little rubber-tailed jig on the fish when they all suddenly just disappeared. Water got glassy smooth and eerily quiet. Baitfish minnows in full panic jumping and running for their lives. I thought the mackerel were chasing them until the mackerel did the same. Then a school of dolphin also headed north in a hurry. Something big is coming this way. Gotta be a Great White. Holy Crap! Here I am looking like a big fat seal asleep on the surface. Made it to shore in record time LOL. Hope to hear of your next adventures on the river!
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Jul 1, 2021 9:58:22 GMT -5
I loved reading your story! You had me laughing over my morning coffee. I bet that poor racoon looked at you and your raft and was like... "dude, you're in my spot!" either that or he WAS trying to get to the vienna sausages. lol I had an odd animal experience like that once too. I had a ground squirrel come up to my friend and I in Yosemite while we were lounging around on some rocks. Our camera gear was set up further out in the river waiting for better lighting. That squirrel looked at us, then at our backpacks out on the rocks, then looked again at us and then the packs (with our snacks). I told my friend, "look out - he's going for the packs!" That little bugger shot straight out over the rocks towards our packs with us chasing and sliding over the boulders after him. No way was I letting him get our chips and apples. We grabbed the packs first and retreated to our sunning boulders again. We were there about 10 minutes and my friend told me.. don't move he's right behind your head. It was hilarious.. he was looking over my head at the chips we were eating. Wish I had a picture of that one. Your trip sounds like it was fun even with the storms and wildlife. I'm afraid I would never have made it past that first gravel bar in your pictures. I would have stopped there staring at all that rocky goodness to search. By the way.. watch out for those MMA umbrellas.. Kapow! right to the head.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 1, 2021 19:58:46 GMT -5
Absolutely love the story, jasoninsd. And I'm a big fan of inflatables, though I did scare myself silly in a 1-man inflatable raft when out in the kelp sharpshooting for calico bass. Was dropping a little rubber-tailed jig on the fish when they all suddenly just disappeared. Water got glassy smooth and eerily quiet. Baitfish minnows in full panic jumping and running for their lives. I thought the mackerel were chasing them until the mackerel did the same. Then a school of dolphin also headed north in a hurry. Something big is coming this way. Gotta be a Great White. Holy Crap! Here I am looking like a big fat seal asleep on the surface. Made it to shore in record time LOL. Hope to hear of your next adventures on the river! Thanks Rob! OH MY GOD! LOL - You have WAY more guts than I do...or I'm way more intelligent! (I highly doubt that's the case though! ) - There is NO way I would get in an inflatable in open water like that! I would have gone into full-blown panic mode and would have just passed out from hyperventilating! I loved reading your story! You had me laughing over my morning coffee. I bet that poor racoon looked at you and your raft and was like... "dude, you're in my spot!" either that or he WAS trying to get to the vienna sausages. lol I had an odd animal experience like that once too. I had a ground squirrel come up to my friend and I in Yosemite while we were lounging around on some rocks. Our camera gear was set up further out in the river waiting for better lighting. That squirrel looked at us, then at our backpacks out on the rocks, then looked again at us and then the packs (with our snacks). I told my friend, "look out - he's going for the packs!" That little bugger shot straight out over the rocks towards our packs with us chasing and sliding over the boulders after him. No way was I letting him get our chips and apples. We grabbed the packs first and retreated to our sunning boulders again. We were there about 10 minutes and my friend told me.. don't move he's right behind your head. It was hilarious.. he was looking over my head at the chips we were eating. Wish I had a picture of that one. Your trip sounds like it was fun even with the storms and wildlife. I'm afraid I would never have made it past that first gravel bar in your pictures. I would have stopped there staring at all that rocky goodness to search. By the way.. watch out for those MMA umbrellas.. Kapow! right to the head. Thank you so much! I really wanted to do a better write-up than what I did. I was still "pooped" from the adventure and couldn't put as many thoughts together as I wanted. There were several more things that happened that could have been written about...maybe next time I'll have to take a journal with me to give a better timeline of the "misadventures"! LOL When that raccoon locked eyes with me that morning, I wasn't sure who was going to go into "flight or fight" mode first...him or me! And I'm not sure I wouldn't have chosen the "flight" part of that! LOL Loved the story of the snack-snatching squirrel! I was totally picturing the stare down as to who was going to go after the snacks first! LOL Next trip will be a "showdown" between me and the umbrella! I'm wearing head-gear next time! LOL
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victor1941
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2011
Posts: 1,959
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Post by victor1941 on Jul 1, 2021 20:50:06 GMT -5
Nice to have the freedom to do such a great trip. I also enjoyed the pictures.
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Post by jasoninsd on Jul 1, 2021 20:54:11 GMT -5
Nice to have the freedom to do such a great trip. I also enjoyed the pictures. Thanks Victor! I am very grateful for the opportunity I have right now to so this kind of thing. I'll try to take more pictures next time I so this...yes...there will be a "next" time!
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Jul 5, 2021 9:39:12 GMT -5
jasoninsd you'll nailed it. It was exactly like that scene...I think the squirrel was probably Clint Eastwood though lol. Looking forward to your next hounding adventure. You're a proper bard, my friend. You have a way with storytelling 😀😀
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