Post by puppie96 on Nov 7, 2007 2:59:15 GMT -5
We went up to northern AZ yesterday (Monday). We had a little bit of light left on Monday and stopped at the Joseph City pet wood site off I-40. Easy to find and quick from the interstate. Filled a bag quickly. The wood is mostly brown/black/gray but interesting patterning and some color. We filled bags quickly and were out in an hour or so. On to Holbrook where we boxed up EVERY remaining rock in the car and sent it off this morning, following which we went to Petrified Forest NP. The ranger on the way in asked whether we had ANY petrified wood or rocks in the car and I said No, because I just mailed them all home! She laughed and said that was a great idea and would save a lot of hassle. We were trying to make a quick trip of it to have some collecting time left, so we asked her about the sites and decided to only go as far as agate bridge and then retrace. I mentioned to her that we were going to be quick because I wanted to go to Woodruff and collect. She was great, very nice and laughed through the whole conversation. On the way out, she waved us right through. So we did the park on the fly but saw some great looking wood. BTW, I did NOT even so much as touch anything on the ground. You'd have been amazed.
From there, we took the road to Woodruff and headed south, with the intention of taking the road all the way to Snowflake and then back to Phx via Payson. The road down seemed better than last time and I was actually hitting 50 at one point! Mr. pup enjoyed the bridge and dam you pass on the way. We got to the fork and turned left and found the windmill and followed the road. Down in that part, there were some pretty major ruts and washes that seemed worse than last time, but it was pretty easy to go around or find a way over them. I was driving, BTW. When we got to the ranch buildings, I wasn't 100% sure exactly where I stopped the last time, but we went further than I believe I did then and stopped beside a long low hill on the right. I may have searched around the base of this hill the last time, but I'm not sure. I headed out and decided to try to get to the top of the hill and the back quickly without getting too sidetracked. That always happens to me, I forget that I'll do better if I get further from the road and get caught up in the stuff closer. I went all the way up top and it is just like being in the agate beds last week; the big problem is deciding what to leave there! It is a true candy shop of your dreams -- a carpet of colors everywhere you look. I am astounded by the stuff I collected -- it was a dream. I got some BIG pieces -- mr. pup got the catch of the day and it must weigh 15 lbs or so -- it is a sandwich of the deep rusty brown with red and yellow in it with white agate in the middle -- it's one of the recognizable types you see from that area. We got a lot of yellow and overall, I got a rainbow of all kinds of shades. I even found a piece of broken branch with crystals in the center! I got a lot of gnarly pieces that look like hunks of root. I pick these up often but they are usually dull on the outside so I'm not sure. I found a broken one that had all kinds of color which makes me happy about the possibilities for others I've picked up. Also, a couple of maybe coprolites and maybe dino bone, but I am always in fantasyland about those, so don't take it too seriously. We picked up all of this in about one to one and a half hours.
Anyhow, I am posting all this detail because I've been reading about Steve Holmes and beef maybe going wooding over the weekend and I can give you this up to date review of that site.
This was truly a high point of my rockhound life. On the way out, just a little way down I got interested in the formation sticking out of the hill, so we stopped for me to run up there, and although it turned out to be nothing but the usual stratified stuff, on the way I found 5 big and a number of medium sized pieces that were just stunning. Maybe this was an even less searched area.
I really owe Joe for this experience. He has been sick since yesterday with an ugly cold that came out of nowhere. He's dragon ass and I had written off collecting today, thinking he wasn't up to it and I sure wasn't going to drag him out there feeling rotten. However, he took the initiative and really pushed for us to get there. It made his day when he found that huge, beautiful piece that was clearly the find of the day, if not the trip.
It was SO much fun going out to all these places with everybody! I really wish I could see some of the stuff now instead of waiting for it to get there in the mail. We stopped at the Snowflake PO and mailed out all the stuff from Woodruff -- no way we could have gotten it all on the plane and I sure wasn't going to let go of any.
From there, we took the road to Woodruff and headed south, with the intention of taking the road all the way to Snowflake and then back to Phx via Payson. The road down seemed better than last time and I was actually hitting 50 at one point! Mr. pup enjoyed the bridge and dam you pass on the way. We got to the fork and turned left and found the windmill and followed the road. Down in that part, there were some pretty major ruts and washes that seemed worse than last time, but it was pretty easy to go around or find a way over them. I was driving, BTW. When we got to the ranch buildings, I wasn't 100% sure exactly where I stopped the last time, but we went further than I believe I did then and stopped beside a long low hill on the right. I may have searched around the base of this hill the last time, but I'm not sure. I headed out and decided to try to get to the top of the hill and the back quickly without getting too sidetracked. That always happens to me, I forget that I'll do better if I get further from the road and get caught up in the stuff closer. I went all the way up top and it is just like being in the agate beds last week; the big problem is deciding what to leave there! It is a true candy shop of your dreams -- a carpet of colors everywhere you look. I am astounded by the stuff I collected -- it was a dream. I got some BIG pieces -- mr. pup got the catch of the day and it must weigh 15 lbs or so -- it is a sandwich of the deep rusty brown with red and yellow in it with white agate in the middle -- it's one of the recognizable types you see from that area. We got a lot of yellow and overall, I got a rainbow of all kinds of shades. I even found a piece of broken branch with crystals in the center! I got a lot of gnarly pieces that look like hunks of root. I pick these up often but they are usually dull on the outside so I'm not sure. I found a broken one that had all kinds of color which makes me happy about the possibilities for others I've picked up. Also, a couple of maybe coprolites and maybe dino bone, but I am always in fantasyland about those, so don't take it too seriously. We picked up all of this in about one to one and a half hours.
Anyhow, I am posting all this detail because I've been reading about Steve Holmes and beef maybe going wooding over the weekend and I can give you this up to date review of that site.
This was truly a high point of my rockhound life. On the way out, just a little way down I got interested in the formation sticking out of the hill, so we stopped for me to run up there, and although it turned out to be nothing but the usual stratified stuff, on the way I found 5 big and a number of medium sized pieces that were just stunning. Maybe this was an even less searched area.
I really owe Joe for this experience. He has been sick since yesterday with an ugly cold that came out of nowhere. He's dragon ass and I had written off collecting today, thinking he wasn't up to it and I sure wasn't going to drag him out there feeling rotten. However, he took the initiative and really pushed for us to get there. It made his day when he found that huge, beautiful piece that was clearly the find of the day, if not the trip.
It was SO much fun going out to all these places with everybody! I really wish I could see some of the stuff now instead of waiting for it to get there in the mail. We stopped at the Snowflake PO and mailed out all the stuff from Woodruff -- no way we could have gotten it all on the plane and I sure wasn't going to let go of any.
