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Post by stephan on Nov 24, 2021 0:24:10 GMT -5
I have to say that orbicular jasper is about the closest I have gotten to rare, but this one is probably a little harder to find than most orbicular.  That looks a lot like Hornitos PJ. Seems like the Olympic stuff has some variety to it. |
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,630
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Post by NRG on Apr 26, 2022 20:06:40 GMT -5
Probably not the rarest rock in the world but by far my favorite memory of collecting a cool rock that shouldn't have been where it was. I still have the 68 lb rock, uncut and probably will stay that way - even if I had a saw big enough lol. The rock is here - never figured out what exactly to call it. I found it by dumb luck - sat down to rest on an outcrop near the vehicles and there it was sticking out of the ground. Probably a hundred thousand rockhounds have walked by that exact spot in the N.Cadys and never saw it. The story is here: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/709548/thread I was there the day you found that. You have me a small piece (i still have it) from the sister stone. I called it “kaleidoscope jasper”. I still cant believe that was laying there at the entrance to a site that had been exploited by rockhounds for 70+ years!!! |
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,116
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Post by Tommy on Apr 26, 2022 21:35:28 GMT -5
I don't know exactly how rare this is but it's one of my favorite rocks I've ever found. It came from the N.Cadys and I found it while exploring a seam of agate that had been hit hard and played out and this piece was still in situ but it cracked out and stayed whole. I believe it to show the formation process of the plume agate and nobody I've showed it to has been able to convince me otherwise, so there's that.   |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2022 16:31:26 GMT -5
Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA. As found.  Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor.  I have not subjected it to myriad tests. Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to.   That’s a crazy rock! It looks like a miniature brain!! |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Apr 27, 2022 19:26:40 GMT -5
Thank you, ashley. It is a strange one. When I found it when we were out walking around the desert at Ocotillo Wells, it was just sitting on the surface, as pretty as you please, begging me to pick it up and take it home. So I obliged. This one has the honor of living in the house. Of course, that means it is living under a protective layer of dust, lol. Have done absolutely nothing to it or with it. Occasionally pick this one up (and blow the dust off), and also other random rocks in the house and admire them from time to time. |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 27, 2022 19:36:46 GMT -5
I find a lot of unique stones, but I'll eat my shoes if I ever find another on the lakeshore that does this...
I think it's part Labradorite
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,429
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 27, 2022 22:14:15 GMT -5
That white plume material is so cool Tommy. Years ago, my collecting buddies and I found a similar vein of that plume way back in the north Cadys where we used to hunt geodes. Only difference was, the vein we found had a bright pink exterior lining and had less definition to the plume structures because they were all scrunched together. Man, the Cadys are a treasure chest of good agate.
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Post by fernwood on Apr 29, 2022 4:33:41 GMT -5
I find a lot of unique stones, but I'll eat my shoes if I ever find another on the lakeshore that does this...
I think it's part Labradorite
Could it be Moonstone? |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 29, 2022 5:16:58 GMT -5
I find a lot of unique stones, but I'll eat my shoes if I ever find another on the lakeshore that does this...
I think it's part Labradorite
Could it be Moonstone? You could very well be right, Beth. I only have my piece of Labradorie to compare and not moonstone. Moonstone would be closer to home, but the glaciers may have carried it from Canada 🤔 |
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Post by fernwood on Apr 29, 2022 5:19:47 GMT -5
You could very well be right, Beth. I only have my piece of Labradorie to compare and not moonstone. Moonstone would be closer to home, but the glaciers may have carried it from Canada 🤔 It looks similar to Wisconsin Moonstone. |
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Post by rickb on Apr 29, 2022 5:41:48 GMT -5
Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA. As found. Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor. I have not subjected it to myriad tests. Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to. That’s a crazy rock! It looks like a miniature brain!!Let's call it alien brain agate.  |
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Post by realrockhound on Apr 30, 2022 2:03:37 GMT -5
I don't know exactly how rare this is but it's one of my favorite rocks I've ever found. It came from the N.Cadys and I found it while exploring a seam of agate that had been hit hard and played out and this piece was still in situ but it cracked out and stayed whole. I believe it to show the formation process of the plume agate and nobody I've showed it to has been able to convince me otherwise, so there's that. That’s probably exactly how the plumes formed. The only thing it’s missing was the presence of silica rich water to leach in and fill the remaining voids. From the seam it was in, it probably had a slow trickle of mineral rich water that developed the plume features we’re seeing here. Just never got the combination to finish the job right. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,429
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 30, 2022 15:23:03 GMT -5
Got to say my rarest find ever was when I discovered the new ranch we had bought was at ground zero for the Hornitos/ Hunters Valley Poppy Jasper zone. Actually had outcrops on the forty acres we bought right across from our house and over a decade of searching my buddy and I found numerous outcrops down valley from our homes too. The real excitement was when my buddy's dog found the original red and pink poppy pit and several more adjacent to it. All told we must have found a dozen or more old prospects and veins. These cabs represent only a small number of the different types we found. Lost most my pics to Photobucket though some are likely still in the Agate Index posted on this site. It had been my goal to cab all the types until my Genie got old and cranky and my hands messed up enough to make cabbing no fun. Sold my entire collection of specimen slabs and rough to one of our old members, so all gone now, but man the memories of those discoveries, some found right in my driveway are fun memories to have.  Hunters Valley Jasper by lonerider652000, on Flickr |
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 1,755
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Post by rockbrain on May 7, 2022 9:04:42 GMT -5
Beautiful cabs Sabre52. I'm just barely getting over poison oak from a little hounding in that exact area. That's all I got. I still can't believe my parents had a houseboat right by Jasper point and I never knew about it. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,429
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Post by Sabre52 on May 7, 2022 16:04:35 GMT -5
Thanks rockbrain. Got to say I had several run ins with poison oak while collecting out there too. MY buddy Tom and I got kind of lost while hiking out toward Jasper Point one day and found a red brecciated jasper monolith the size of a friggin hotel and full of poison oak. Even had a gold mine shaft nearby as most the jasper there has some gold in it. Rock was so dense you could not even get a pick into it but oh such a sight to see. Unfortunately a fellow placed a claim on almost all the poppy jasper pits Tom and I found out there and between him and fire, the whole landscape has kind of changed from what I see on Google earth.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 3,724 
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Post by RWA3006 on Jun 9, 2022 9:56:20 GMT -5
Here's a log cast about 350 pounds. It's encased in petrified algae that developed a couple chalcedony/opal rings. The original wood rotted away forming a void that was later filled with quartz crystals.   |
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 3,724
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Post by RWA3006 on Jun 9, 2022 9:57:43 GMT -5
And here's a photo of the outer algae surface on the log.  |
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 3,724
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Post by RWA3006 on Jun 9, 2022 10:00:15 GMT -5
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Post by realrockhound on Jun 16, 2022 1:59:10 GMT -5
That thing is freaking awesome
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Collecting lapidary machines
Member since January 2021
Posts: 407
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Post by aGates on Sept 19, 2022 22:35:17 GMT -5
Strange bumpy rock found sitting on the surface of the ground in Ocotillo Wells, CA. As found. Light brown in color, opaque, hardness maybe 7? Probably quartz of some flavor. I have not subjected it to myriad tests. Will ask for opinions of knowledgable people next rock show I go to. That’s a crazy rock! It looks like a miniature brain!! Reminds me of a snakeskin agate before the tumble. Truth be told I have only seen tumbled snakeskin aGates and not sure if I'm correct but I love that odd duck. |
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X - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's rocks
- O Henry
Sept 27, 2023 11:08:52 GMT -5
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- O Henry
Sept 27, 2023 11:08:52 GMT -5
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