Post by SteveHolmes on Sept 15, 2006 20:57:03 GMT -5
Finally, here it is, my latest venture,Golden Valley, Arizona…Fire Agate
It all started when I had to go to Bullhead City, (Satans Lair) Arizona to work on a Lowes. I didn’t even know where Bullhead City was located nor had I even heard of the place. I soon came to find out it isn’t a place I’d like to live yet alone work , especially in August. When we got there the temps were nearing 115 and it only took 3 days for us to figure out that we would have to work a night shift…which really helped in my rockhounding part of the trip. I received a PM from a fellow RTH(rallyrocks) member saying that he would be in Laughlin over Labor Day and he left me with his cell phone number. I called Pete on Sunday, the day before Labor Day. He was planning on heading back to California on Monday but said he was going to be going out in the morning to do a little rockhounding. It was a pleasure to meet Pete and it was really kind of him to let me tag along with him. I had no idea what the area held as far as rockhounding went, but was soon to find out there was a lot of good country to explore. We met each other Monday morning around 8am. I followed him up a dirt road out of town about 15 miles or so. There were lots of mines in the area, some of which are still being worked. We stopped at an area and explored a dry wash. We were finding a few pieces of Chalcedony and some crazy looking rocks, but no Fire Agate, which was what we were looking for. Pete suggested we drive up to Oatman, an old Gold Mining Ghost town(on the verge of Ghost Town status, if it wasn’t for the tourists) We walked through the town and went into a few stores. Unfortunately the only rock shop there was closed, but we were able to get some vital information out of the lady that was in the store adjacent to the rock shop. We inquired her of any Fire Agate locations and she steered us in the direction of a Mr. Don Nelson. She stated that he had 5 mining claims (120 acres) that he let people dig on for a fee. We were very excited upon receiving this information and off we went to find him. His claims are located in Golden Valley, Arizona. His claims overlook his home, which sits on an old milling site. We were amazed at the material he has outside his home, sitting on tables which he sells. Mr. Don Nelson is a very friendly gentleman, very honest and reasonable. His knowledge about the Fire Agate is informative and educational. Pete and I just stood there and looked at piece after piece. Almost all the pieces on his table show signs of fire. Because of the limited amount of time Pete had, he had to leave, and before doing so picked out some fine pieces. I really wanted to go dig in his claims but I was only equipped witrh my rockhammer….not much of a tool when hard rock mining is involved. I chatted with Don for another 30 or so minutes and decided to buy $20 worth of pieces. He picked out some nice pieces of tumble type stuff, because I had told him that’s mostly what I do. He also threw in a nice piece of druzy. I stated that I was interested in digging in his claims, but I was not outfitted with the right tools. He told me there would be another gentleman up there digging and I was welcome to go up and just take a look at what to expect when digging. One other note, he charges $15.00 a day…you keep whatever you find. I decided to go up and check out his claims. I only visited one of the claims, which sits right off the road of the Route 66 road. It is basically a wall of rock, maybe 12-15 feet high, in hard Rhyolite. You have to break the hard rock, trying to uncover pockets of the Fire Agate. You may uncover a whole pocket or just the nodules. It was my pleasure to meet another wonderful rockhound(Jim). A 72 year old who was, as he told me, ‘saved from becoming a couch potato after seeing his first Fire Agate” He was kind enough to let me use his tools, sledgehammers, chisels and pry bars and thus started my first Fire Agate digging experience. I dug probably for about 4 hours that first day and found a few good pieces. I was hooked though, and I was very excited to try my hand at digging another day. After going back to work the next few days, I decided I needed to take another trip up to the dig. I stopped by Don’s house and paid him the fee, and this time Don let me take his tools and use them. I dug this day for about 4 hours as well. I uncovered some very nice pieces, but better yet, I uncovered a “Glory Hole Pocket” which was about 2 feet back from the main rock wall face. I really didn’t have the time to uncover the pocket, but told Don I wanted to come back on Sunday, before I had to return home. He had seen what I had worked so hard to uncover, and he promised me that he wouldn’t let anyone dig in that particular spot. I thanked him immensely and rushed back to work, just to dream about what the next visit would uncover for me. Sunday came and I arrived at Don’s house about 8am. I was excited about today, because I knew that I could hit the Payload big time. I knew I had my work cut out for me, and was on limited time, since I had to be back to work by 3pm. I started hammering away at the hard rock trying to come from behind my big pocket. Lo and behold, while working my way back to the Glory Pocket I uncovered yet another pocket of some super material. My fellow rockhound was there and he shared my excitement. I gave him some nice specimens, and continued my onslaught on the rock face. I finally broke the rock back enough that it actually opened the pocket up to me. I , as well as Don and Jim were very excited and astounded by the pocket. This thing was huge, and my excitement turned to tears of joy. They watched breathlessly while I chisled away slowly, enough material to be able to free the pocket of Fire Agate out of its hidden place which has been kept secret for over a thousand years. After breaking through the pocket, it was about time for me to leave. I was very reluctant at leaving, because there were still several pockets which could have been uncovered, but I was thrilled with the finds for the day, and it was honestly a “Grand Finale” to my final day at the Fire Agate claims.
To sum it all up, I walked away with some very good, perhaps gem quality material. It was well worth the $45.00 I spent in the 3 days, probably about 12 hours of total digging time. I also came away with a greater knowledge of Fire Agate and 3 great friends, which I will never forget and will stay in contact with them. I also was surprised at what Mr. Don Nelson left me, a very fine, polished piece of Fire Agate. He gave it to me for nothing, and that just shows what a wonderful gentleman he is. I didn’t have my camera with me, and so I didn’t get any pics of the claims nor surrounding areas. The surrounding area is beautiful and very peaceful. I am definitely planning a return trip, but most likely in the winter or spring. The following pics are some of what I brought home. It is very hard to capture the ‘fire’ in the pieces, but I’d say that at least 90% of the material I brought home has fire.
Sorry for the long report, but I could really go on and on. It’s probably a bit sporadic, because I’m not much of an author, and it’s only an attempt of the excitement and love that I now have for ‘Fire Agates’
Hopefully this will entice many a appetite, and if any of you decide to venture to Golden Valley to dig for Fire Agate, it’s a guarantee you’ll find some nice pieces, or you can always buy some super pieces from Don Nelson. Here’s his info as well:
Donald Nelson
HC 39 Box 905
Golden Valley, Arizona 86413
PH# 928-565-4145
He is usually home most days until 11am or so. You can contact him for directions or any questions which you might have. Let him know that Steve Holmes sent you his way. Thanks for letting me post the report here.
Steve
The whole lot of material, crystals, tumblers, and workable pieces
a very nice piece which may contain "Pin" fire agate
a blurry pic, but you can see the green and red fire
a sweet piece, looks like Cats Eye
The grandaddy piece. Lots of white cap which usually is a very good sign of nice fire.
some nice pieces with fire and the fine polished specimen which Don gave me. (sitting on top of grandaddy piece)
another picture of some of the bigger finds
It all started when I had to go to Bullhead City, (Satans Lair) Arizona to work on a Lowes. I didn’t even know where Bullhead City was located nor had I even heard of the place. I soon came to find out it isn’t a place I’d like to live yet alone work , especially in August. When we got there the temps were nearing 115 and it only took 3 days for us to figure out that we would have to work a night shift…which really helped in my rockhounding part of the trip. I received a PM from a fellow RTH(rallyrocks) member saying that he would be in Laughlin over Labor Day and he left me with his cell phone number. I called Pete on Sunday, the day before Labor Day. He was planning on heading back to California on Monday but said he was going to be going out in the morning to do a little rockhounding. It was a pleasure to meet Pete and it was really kind of him to let me tag along with him. I had no idea what the area held as far as rockhounding went, but was soon to find out there was a lot of good country to explore. We met each other Monday morning around 8am. I followed him up a dirt road out of town about 15 miles or so. There were lots of mines in the area, some of which are still being worked. We stopped at an area and explored a dry wash. We were finding a few pieces of Chalcedony and some crazy looking rocks, but no Fire Agate, which was what we were looking for. Pete suggested we drive up to Oatman, an old Gold Mining Ghost town(on the verge of Ghost Town status, if it wasn’t for the tourists) We walked through the town and went into a few stores. Unfortunately the only rock shop there was closed, but we were able to get some vital information out of the lady that was in the store adjacent to the rock shop. We inquired her of any Fire Agate locations and she steered us in the direction of a Mr. Don Nelson. She stated that he had 5 mining claims (120 acres) that he let people dig on for a fee. We were very excited upon receiving this information and off we went to find him. His claims are located in Golden Valley, Arizona. His claims overlook his home, which sits on an old milling site. We were amazed at the material he has outside his home, sitting on tables which he sells. Mr. Don Nelson is a very friendly gentleman, very honest and reasonable. His knowledge about the Fire Agate is informative and educational. Pete and I just stood there and looked at piece after piece. Almost all the pieces on his table show signs of fire. Because of the limited amount of time Pete had, he had to leave, and before doing so picked out some fine pieces. I really wanted to go dig in his claims but I was only equipped witrh my rockhammer….not much of a tool when hard rock mining is involved. I chatted with Don for another 30 or so minutes and decided to buy $20 worth of pieces. He picked out some nice pieces of tumble type stuff, because I had told him that’s mostly what I do. He also threw in a nice piece of druzy. I stated that I was interested in digging in his claims, but I was not outfitted with the right tools. He told me there would be another gentleman up there digging and I was welcome to go up and just take a look at what to expect when digging. One other note, he charges $15.00 a day…you keep whatever you find. I decided to go up and check out his claims. I only visited one of the claims, which sits right off the road of the Route 66 road. It is basically a wall of rock, maybe 12-15 feet high, in hard Rhyolite. You have to break the hard rock, trying to uncover pockets of the Fire Agate. You may uncover a whole pocket or just the nodules. It was my pleasure to meet another wonderful rockhound(Jim). A 72 year old who was, as he told me, ‘saved from becoming a couch potato after seeing his first Fire Agate” He was kind enough to let me use his tools, sledgehammers, chisels and pry bars and thus started my first Fire Agate digging experience. I dug probably for about 4 hours that first day and found a few good pieces. I was hooked though, and I was very excited to try my hand at digging another day. After going back to work the next few days, I decided I needed to take another trip up to the dig. I stopped by Don’s house and paid him the fee, and this time Don let me take his tools and use them. I dug this day for about 4 hours as well. I uncovered some very nice pieces, but better yet, I uncovered a “Glory Hole Pocket” which was about 2 feet back from the main rock wall face. I really didn’t have the time to uncover the pocket, but told Don I wanted to come back on Sunday, before I had to return home. He had seen what I had worked so hard to uncover, and he promised me that he wouldn’t let anyone dig in that particular spot. I thanked him immensely and rushed back to work, just to dream about what the next visit would uncover for me. Sunday came and I arrived at Don’s house about 8am. I was excited about today, because I knew that I could hit the Payload big time. I knew I had my work cut out for me, and was on limited time, since I had to be back to work by 3pm. I started hammering away at the hard rock trying to come from behind my big pocket. Lo and behold, while working my way back to the Glory Pocket I uncovered yet another pocket of some super material. My fellow rockhound was there and he shared my excitement. I gave him some nice specimens, and continued my onslaught on the rock face. I finally broke the rock back enough that it actually opened the pocket up to me. I , as well as Don and Jim were very excited and astounded by the pocket. This thing was huge, and my excitement turned to tears of joy. They watched breathlessly while I chisled away slowly, enough material to be able to free the pocket of Fire Agate out of its hidden place which has been kept secret for over a thousand years. After breaking through the pocket, it was about time for me to leave. I was very reluctant at leaving, because there were still several pockets which could have been uncovered, but I was thrilled with the finds for the day, and it was honestly a “Grand Finale” to my final day at the Fire Agate claims.
To sum it all up, I walked away with some very good, perhaps gem quality material. It was well worth the $45.00 I spent in the 3 days, probably about 12 hours of total digging time. I also came away with a greater knowledge of Fire Agate and 3 great friends, which I will never forget and will stay in contact with them. I also was surprised at what Mr. Don Nelson left me, a very fine, polished piece of Fire Agate. He gave it to me for nothing, and that just shows what a wonderful gentleman he is. I didn’t have my camera with me, and so I didn’t get any pics of the claims nor surrounding areas. The surrounding area is beautiful and very peaceful. I am definitely planning a return trip, but most likely in the winter or spring. The following pics are some of what I brought home. It is very hard to capture the ‘fire’ in the pieces, but I’d say that at least 90% of the material I brought home has fire.
Sorry for the long report, but I could really go on and on. It’s probably a bit sporadic, because I’m not much of an author, and it’s only an attempt of the excitement and love that I now have for ‘Fire Agates’
Hopefully this will entice many a appetite, and if any of you decide to venture to Golden Valley to dig for Fire Agate, it’s a guarantee you’ll find some nice pieces, or you can always buy some super pieces from Don Nelson. Here’s his info as well:
Donald Nelson
HC 39 Box 905
Golden Valley, Arizona 86413
PH# 928-565-4145
He is usually home most days until 11am or so. You can contact him for directions or any questions which you might have. Let him know that Steve Holmes sent you his way. Thanks for letting me post the report here.
Steve
The whole lot of material, crystals, tumblers, and workable pieces
a very nice piece which may contain "Pin" fire agate
a blurry pic, but you can see the green and red fire
a sweet piece, looks like Cats Eye
The grandaddy piece. Lots of white cap which usually is a very good sign of nice fire.
some nice pieces with fire and the fine polished specimen which Don gave me. (sitting on top of grandaddy piece)
another picture of some of the bigger finds
