Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 21, 2017 19:34:26 GMT -5
Howdy folks,
Was asked to give directions to this site. Tried to photograph Google maps but no luck so I'll have you pull up the sat map yourself and look it up then give directions. Poppy all over Hunters Valley by the way but it's private so probably no access but the directions I'll give are for the BlM land down canyon.
First off go to google maps Detwiler Road, Mariposa Co, CA. You'll see Detwiler runs north of Hunters Valley rd ( HV rd) then loops west and back south to re connect with HV Rd. Look for Dream Rch West off the north end of Detwiler. Magnify the map and look for a triangle pond and grape vineyard. The dirt rd through the vineyard goes right to Robin's Poppy claims off the dirt rd approx 2000' NW of the triangle pond. If you magnify it, you can see the dozer activity and several of Tom and I's old pits on east side of road. Unfortunately, these are fee claims since Robin filed on them but there is more poppy ground north up the road that is BLM. Also, Dream Rch has closed off this easy route so I'll walk you in over my hiking route which is a fairly good four wheel drive road unless wet. Do not try it wet!
OK to start, go north on Hunters Valley Rd towards Lake Mc Clure. If you look at the sat map up close you can see the 4WD road turn off about 1 1/2 miles NW of Junction of west end of Detwiler and HV Rd. You can see it loops north, then east and then south right into Robins claims. No other rd there making that route but it's easy to miss without the google map. Take this road and watch for two crappy dirt roads off left side of this one. First rd takes off west about 3/4 mile along. Goes to old gold claims, no jasper. Rd two takes off north another 1/4 mile along. This is not driveable but needs to be hiked and it's steep uphill coming back, This goes to a brecciated jasper monolith the size of a gym. Very nice stuff, red, black, purple hematite etc. Huge deposit! Hike about 3/4 mile each way.
Next you will see the BLM rd turns east and then in another 1/4 mile turns south and you will see a relatively bare ridge on your right. All poppy beneath this ridge but only exposures are along the brushy ravine on SE side of ridge. The Firefly pit and a Primrose jasper deposit are in this ravine. Old Flora claim is along the extreme sw tip of this ridge.
Half mile further south along BLM road is another big open ridge and this has several old poppy pits, brecciated jasper and spotted jasper types along with several types of poppy. Here I'd look for surface float and dig or work the old pits. Big hunks below the surface. Half mile or so further and you run into Robin Trumbells claims and past that a couple hundred yards it dead ends at a gate to pvt property.
Believe me,if you study the Google sat map it will all be quite clear. Toughest part is the turnoff off HV road as its kind of confusing. Also, when hiking, if you get in the brush, watch for open shafts. Some are deep and hidden and its easy to step into one. There are some on that first ridge top so beware. Also lots of mountain lions, bears, and rattlers around this area and that damn poison oak by the big brecciated monolith and in some of the ravines. Got more questions ask.....Mel
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Jul 23, 2017 18:59:13 GMT -5
Thank you Mel. I think I was able to follow along quite nicely.
I wonder how all this looks now with the fire having gone directly over it. The whole Dream Ranch West looks like it took a direct hit.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Jul 23, 2017 19:13:34 GMT -5
Looks like Robin's claims and the ranch took a direct hit but some of the other areas you described did not (yet). That edge of the fire is still showing uncontrolled and might burn all the way to the lake.
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 23, 2017 20:02:24 GMT -5
If the fire burns all the way to the jasper monolith , that would be super cool as poison oak was a real issue for me at that site. Imagine though,car sized boulders of brecciated jasper and a jasper dome so large there is a gold mine tunnel in the base of it, all exposed by fire. That would be awesome! Float at the other sites may be concealed by ash so I'd wait for a rain if it we me to wash off the ash. If fire exposes the ravine with a small creek at the edge of that first ridge, there should be jasper stringers all over the ravine around the middle of the ridge. Real brushy there and hard to crawl into but with the fire you should be able to walk right down and start hunting. Still haven't heard on my old ranch house yet. Heard eight homes down there were destroyed....Mel
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Post by coloradocliff on Jul 23, 2017 20:23:36 GMT -5
If the fire burns all the way to the jasper monolith , that would be super cool as poison oak was a real issue for me at that site. Imagine though,car sized boulders of brecciated jasper and a jasper dome so large there is a gold mine tunnel in the base of it, all exposed by fire. That would be awesome! Float at the other sites may be concealed by ash so I'd wait for a rain if it we me to wash off the ash. If fire exposes the ravine with a small creek at the edge of that first ridge, there should be jasper stringers all over the ravine around the middle of the ridge. Real brushy there and hard to crawl into but with the fire you should be able to walk right down and start hunting. Still haven't heard on my old ranch house yet. Heard eight homes down there were destroyed....Mel Sorry about the old ranch house. The dream Ranch maybe not so much. The jasper mono lith sounds interesting. Wonder why no fee claims filed on it. Quality? Access..? Thanks Mel Hope to check it out some day.
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 24, 2017 6:02:27 GMT -5
Yeah, I suspect it's a bit of both. Folks like poppy more than just red brecciated jasper and that road, though it does not look it, is steep downhill, slippery and fades out before the monolith. Access is by foot. Monolith is pretty forested too so it really doesn't show much unless you know where to look. Tom and I hiked in from the first road to the goldmines to the west and hiked east through the brush. First stumbled upon the old mine with the long water tank you can see if you blow up the map. Tom's dog was with us and loved to swim in the trough. Then we continued east until we started hitting float in the washes and followed it to the monolith. I should say both of us are hardcore hikers so finding the monolith might be a bit of a trial for most. We also found some poppy on every mine dump we saw too so there is no telling what exposures are still around in the brush. There is a spot north of the monolith called Jasper Point on the lake shore. Never been there but if one had a boat,that might be fun to investigate. Tom told me another rancher down by the lake had lots of poppy on his place, so I suppose there might even be poppy in the lake shore gravel beds. Huge area and just difficult to explore it all. Hunters Valley chert member is supposed to run from Hornitos clear to the lake west of the Mount Williams range....Mel
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Post by captbob on Jul 24, 2017 8:16:07 GMT -5
*whew* I was worried that this might be a thread about my garage. It is most definitely a Hunters Valley poppy jasper area! Bettin' the largest one east of the Mississippi. Thanks to Mr. Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 24, 2017 11:22:27 GMT -5
Yep, Ole Bob's truck were hanging kind of low after he left the ranch *L*. He got him enough poppy to keep him cuttin for awhile that's for sure....Mel
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 25, 2017 9:45:09 GMT -5
That's one material that I call ghost material,around here.. I mention "Hunters Valley poppy jasper",the people clam up and say no sale.....LOL.. One of these days though,I will find some for my personal collection... Thanks for the information Mel.....
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Jul 26, 2017 15:34:41 GMT -5
That's one material that I call ghost material,around here.. I mention "Hunters Valley poppy jasper",the people clam up and say no sale.....LOL.. One of these days though,I will find some for my personal collection... Thanks for the information Mel..... That's what it's been like around here too. People here act like they'll get struck down with boils if they give out any information about it at all other than to tell you that it's picked clean and inaccessible by humans anyway. I guess it works because I've never ventured up that way even though it turns out it's only a quick two hour trip from my house. I regularly drive farther than that (2.5 hours) to hunt up at Stony Creek / Burris Creek. Once the whole fire thing calms down (80k acres, 65% contained as of this morning) we're going to head up there and poke around. Unfortunately it appears the fire stopped short of Mel's monolith. Would have been nice if it had kept burning all the way to jasper point. Not a single house or property lies in the way if it had.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 26, 2017 20:34:10 GMT -5
Truly, there is lots of both poppy jasper and Hornitos brecciated jasper up there still. Right before I sold our ranch I went on a big solo crawl under the manzanita thickets. Found small surface occurrences of various, often odd, never before seen poppy types, all over under the brush. Too dang hot to dig them but I did collect and polish a lot of chips. Found white poppy, golden poppy, weird cocoa brown poppy etc. Only a few indications but it's out there all over. Our own old ranch had a whole hillside full of boulders just full of Primrose poppy nodules to six inches or so but hard to get them out without breaking them up. I posted some pics of them in situ here once but don't have them anymore. Every neighboring ranch had poppy deposits scattered around but of course some doctor built on top the best deposit which was quite large. First steep gravel road taking off to left just past our old place at 8016 Hunters Valley Rd had several types of jasper eroding out of the road bed and banks near the top of the hill. Plenty of poppy all over out there if you know what to look for.....Mel
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Post by radio on Jul 27, 2017 15:39:25 GMT -5
Gave nearly all of mine away before I left California. Been on HV road many times, and my old beat up Montero took me places Jeeps fear to tread! Some interesting stuff to be found between Hornitos and Bagby!
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Post by aDave on Jul 27, 2017 15:54:00 GMT -5
Once the whole fire thing calms down (80k acres, 65% contained as of this morning) we're going to head up there and poke around. Unfortunately it appears the fire stopped short of Mel's monolith. Would have been nice if it had kept burning all the way to jasper point. Not a single house or property lies in the way if it had. Tommy, if you go shortly after the fire, and you're going to be working the burn, be sure to bring a complete set of extra clothes and footwear...and trash bags for the clothes you go hounding in. The ash/soot gets everywhere, and you'll be covered in black. Yes, I speak from experience. Regards. Dave
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Post by radio on Jul 27, 2017 16:05:17 GMT -5
That's one material that I call ghost material,around here.. I mention "Hunters Valley poppy jasper",the people clam up and say no sale.....LOL.. One of these days though,I will find some for my personal collection... Thanks for the information Mel..... Once the whole fire thing calms down (80k acres, 65% contained as of this morning) we're going to head up there and poke around. Unfortunately it appears the fire stopped short of Mel's monolith. Would have been nice if it had kept burning all the way to jasper point. Not a single house or property lies in the way if it had. Take a metal detector with you that will pick up small nuggets and poke around in the washes a bit
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Jul 27, 2017 18:23:16 GMT -5
Once the whole fire thing calms down (80k acres, 65% contained as of this morning) we're going to head up there and poke around. Unfortunately it appears the fire stopped short of Mel's monolith. Would have been nice if it had kept burning all the way to jasper point. Not a single house or property lies in the way if it had. Tommy, if you go shortly after the fire, and you're going to be working the burn, be sure to bring a complete set of extra clothes and footwear...and trash bags for the clothes you go hounding in. The ash/soot gets everywhere, and you'll be covered in black. Yes, I speak from experience. Regards. Dave Advice taken, thanks Dave! We had already decided to leave the dog at home for this one. Typically he would come with us but we're anticipating the worse - soot or poison oak. Were going to dress accordingly and carry and extra set of clothes - and gloves. If the most recent official Cal Fire perimeter map dated 7/17 can be believed the area we're headed for - and Mel's monolith - did not burn but we will definitely be skirting the edge.
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Tommy
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Post by Tommy on Jul 27, 2017 18:24:43 GMT -5
Take a metal detector with you that will pick up small nuggets and poke around in the washes a bit I wish I had one! One of these days...
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Post by radio on Jul 27, 2017 19:19:00 GMT -5
Take a metal detector with you that will pick up small nuggets and poke around in the washes a bit I wish I had one! One of these days... One of my facebook friends has a dandy for $275. Minelab XT 17000 Gold machine. I sold a ton of these machines when I was a dealer out there and they were Boss! Autotune, so no pumping the coil up and down and twiddling knobs to ground balance them. Pick up a BB size nugget at 6 inches
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agatemaggot
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Post by agatemaggot on Jul 27, 2017 22:21:50 GMT -5
Check out E-Bay for the machine you are interested in, most can be picked up for $.15 on the dollar. You can set up a search with daily notifications, usually, and something will show up within 2 to 4 weeks ! I have picked up 3 machines for less than 30% retail and they all came with extra coils in various sizes plus accessories , diggin tools, pinpointers, you name it.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 28, 2017 6:12:16 GMT -5
Yeah Harley is right. Lots of used metal detectors around for sale at much below new prices. I sold two top of the line Garretts for almost nothing before our Texas move. Still wish I had kept one of them at least but my knees were blown at the time and I couldn't effectively use them. Lots of gold up by the poppy jasper. I was told the original pit where the beautiful red poppy was found was initially a gold prospect. Lots of folks pan gold in the creek you cross on the road into the poppy sites. My buddy Tom hunted gold up there a lot and it was interesting that many of the nuggets were compacted wire gold. The region is pretty famous for nice cuttable gold in snow white quartz too....Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jul 28, 2017 15:56:35 GMT -5
You guys are talking about forest fires. There is an exposure of nice silicified bryozoan chert about 25 miles in diameter on the Savanah River bordering east Georgia. It was carried all over the south east by native man. Apparently a giant lithic mine back in the day. Intensly hot forest fires(lots of fuel here) since ancient times heat treats the chert about 12 inches down. Does a great job where the chert is 4-12 inches down. Most of the area is plowed so the fields are full of it. The heat breaks off chunks and shards off of exposed boulders. Colors the heck out of it. Amusing that it is quite boring in the unheated form. Wildly colored in the heat treated state. Collectors are marveling over the nice colors and most don't know it is heat treated. Many a fine artifact made out of Savannah River chert laying in the upper layer of the soil gets damaged by the fires. One of them is heat treated
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