Roger
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since August 2005
Posts: 1,775
|
Post by Roger on Aug 20, 2008 15:24:07 GMT -5
Hi:
I'm still ready to go.I'm not nuch of a guide but I can show or take you guy's to some place's I know.See you in Sept.
Roger
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Aug 21, 2008 13:15:11 GMT -5
That's great Roger! Thanks for the offer!
Right now, I'm planning on Weta, Railroad Buttes, and maybe Indian Creek. I've never been to any of the sites and have only 2.5 days, so I want to make the best use of our time.
My whole family is coming along, so I'm sure we'll go to the Badlands and Wall just to break things up a little (they're not the rockhounds that I am).
Chuck
|
|
|
|
Post by cina on Aug 27, 2008 6:41:07 GMT -5
I still want to come if we get a date as for hunting I am no good out there I never find rocks when I go up but I also do not look to hard the dang hot tubs get me every time lol.
I am so sad I will not see my friends for a beer this trip but know I am wishing you guys all the best "Huggles"
Dang it the box the box the box I will send it I will I will.
|
|
|
|
Post by cina on Aug 27, 2008 6:42:34 GMT -5
I take that back I did hunt in Fairburned once had a great day never did find one though  The 19-21 would work better for me but I will try to work wiyh any day you all pick. |
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Aug 27, 2008 8:23:52 GMT -5
I'm planning on 12-14. Deb convinced me to go to Tepee Canyon, so I'll try to work that in, too.
I think this will be the first of many trips for me. There are just too many areas to hit in one trip.
|
|
karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by karenfh on Aug 27, 2008 20:24:37 GMT -5
Hey, all,
If I come, it will probably be just me.
I need specific days, hotels, etc., and perhaps real contact phone numbers?
What a hoot, I told my family I was not going; they said "Mom, you should go!" So I said OK, I'm gonna do it. Then they said, NO!! You can't go by yourself!
I said, "Yes I can, and I intend to!"
So I need all your names and addys, in case I don't come back, LOL.
Seriously, I will do a late Friday thru Sunday. And leave my boys at home.
Looking forward to it!
K
|
|
|
|
Post by cina on Aug 27, 2008 22:06:34 GMT -5
I will be at Hart Ranch on the 13 and 14 so I just need to know where to meet up with you all  Karen sending you info in a pm. |
|
karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by karenfh on Aug 28, 2008 2:33:51 GMT -5
Thanks, Steph. Got your PM.
Still hoping and planning; googling Hart Ranch.
K
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Aug 28, 2008 12:20:50 GMT -5
Karen,
I sent you a PM. We will most likely stay at the Badlands Ranch.
Chuck
|
|
|
|
Post by puppie96 on Aug 28, 2008 19:51:29 GMT -5
We are struggling with this. It's a long haul for us & we really planned to go, but that was when we thought it would be a fair sized gathering. Now that it has been resurrected, as it were, it is only 2 weeks away and on the heels of missing a Monday in the office for Labor Day (I am self employed & no work/no pay). It's a lot of driving and gas money if we only have 2 or 3 days to hunt, and I know from experience that it takes some time to get around out there to all the locations you'd want to visit. So I don't know.
I didn't get until now that there are 2 ranches, Hart Ranch and Badlands Ranch. Chuck, I thought you were talking about the same place. Part of the fun would be a group camp.
This is a tough decision. I really want to go, but there is so much weighing against it.
Too bad we got so unlucky with the economy and gas prices and all the rest of it. In the beginning, it sounded like it would be a blast, but so much stuff has gotten in the way for everybody.
So that's where I am. Indecisive, in a word.
|
|
|
|
Post by cina on Aug 29, 2008 10:22:00 GMT -5
Well maybe we could start with a head count do we know who will be there?  |
|
karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by karenfh on Aug 30, 2008 4:09:21 GMT -5
Hey, Steph and Chuck. Thanks for the info, it will set my boys' concerns to rest, I hope.
I am also indecisive, but really leaning towards going. So that makes 3, maybe 4, and we can hook up with fairburned, right? So that's 5?
I need to know how far the Hart Ranch is from the Badlands Ranch.
I am leaning toward the Badlands Ranch. Either tent, if just me, or cabin, if I bring people.
I also have a friend in Rapid I would love to hook up with, if time.
So, how exactly do we go about hunting rocks? What other costs, aside from gas & lodging, do we need to consider?
And, just a side note. I have a couple of gals here that seem really interested in going with me. For whatever reason!
Hubby Tom said he would, bless his heart, but...not his thang. If the girls pan out, we'll be leaving poor Tom at home, haha.
I have stuck 2 paychecks in a savings account for this trip. If I don't go, the bucks will be applied to a laptop for my son.
Help me be selfish for a change!
K
|
|
|
|
Post by puppie96 on Aug 31, 2008 2:55:33 GMT -5
Karen, it is easy rockhunting there. The normal rockhunting in the desert stuff is all you need -- you have to watch out for dehydration and sunburn and prepare accordingly; you should wear high topped boots because of rattlesnakes and wear leather gloves for protection against cactus spikes, too. You really don't need a lot of equipment, at least for looking for Fairburn agates, prairie and bubblegum agates, and petrified wood, in the badlands collecting areas, because you really aren't digging, just surface collecting. A rock hammer always comes in handy for prying stuff out or chipping off a corner.
There are many published guides to rocking in the area and the locations are easy to find. You have to be somewhat careful about driving conditions, especially if there's any chance you might encounter gumbo, which will trap you forever. There's a lot of online information that you can find pretty easily. I have never been to any kind of fee site, but it sounded like there are some that Hart Ranch would direct you to, or guide you.
I don't think it figures to be an expensive trip. Other than the lodging, the food costs shouldn't be much if you can fix some of your own food, and there's some driving to the sites, but they aren't super far apart or anything. Decent maps are a BIG help. The rangers at the National Grasslands office in Wall are helpful; they will sell you a grasslands map and can tell you whether any of the public areas have become private.
The scenery is beyond awesome.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Sept 2, 2008 10:16:58 GMT -5
I stopped in Iowa to collect some fossils on the way home yesterday and that caused my wife to re-think whether she wants to go to SD. She's not a rockhound, by any stretch. Regardless, I still plan to go with my 10 yr old daughter, and perhaps my 2 sons (8 and 12). I'd love to show them the area.
Hart Ranch is in Rapid, Badlands Ranch is in Scenic, so they're a ways apart. Badlands Ranch is offers fee trips; I didn't see anything like that for Hart.
I think you've counted all the costs, food, fuel, and lodging.
Deb, have you hunted Tepee Canyon? It sounds like we would need digging gear to get it out of the wall.
Chuck
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Sept 2, 2008 13:51:57 GMT -5
I thought of one more cost: fees for hunting if Badlands Ranch guides. $30/person plus tips. Seems a little spendy to me, unless they take you to private lands that aren't hunted often.
|
|
|
|
Post by puppie96 on Sept 3, 2008 0:47:38 GMT -5
In Tepee I drove back on Forest Service roads. There's a lot to find in the road cuts and scattered around in the areas off the road. Varies with location quite a bit. Roger was a big help with directions. From what I remember, he does some digging but also finds a fair amount of stuff surface searching in canyons and creek beds. With only limited time I'd stick with Badlands, unless Roger was going to guide. Just my opinion.
|
|
|
|
Post by puppie96 on Sept 3, 2008 0:59:24 GMT -5
Finally I went back to the first page and looked at the link again. The original place was Badlands Ranch, near Interior. I love the location. It is interesting that they don't specify where the guide will take you for $30. If they take you to private property that isn't heavily hunted it might be worth it. However, I've been very happy with the stuff I've collected from the public areas that are accessible by car. Maybe it's a matter of expectations. Today I was rinsing out a barrel full of really beautifully patterned prairie agate and bubblegum agate and I love the stuff. I've got lots of really nice petrified wood from the area, as well. Never any really big rocks. Probably the biggest is about the size of a man's fist.
|
|
karenfh
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2006
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by karenfh on Sept 3, 2008 21:59:14 GMT -5
Ya suppose they'd give us a group rate? Maybe it's the off season...I think I might call them and see. Never hurts to ask!
Still hoping, but now it seems my older son may be coming home that weekend. Hmmm; rock trip/son visiting; hard choice.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Sept 4, 2008 10:27:43 GMT -5
I made my reservation at Badlands Ranch today.
For what it's worth, I asked about the rockhounding trips. They seem to be backing off on that as a money-making opportunity. The owner said "my wife can show you where they are" on their property. He said the materials were about the same as you'd find in the Grasslands. "There are some Fairburns out there if you can find them."
He wasn't a big conversationalist, so I didn't learn much.
|
|
|
|
Post by cina on Sept 8, 2008 7:01:23 GMT -5
Can you all tell me how far Badlands Ranch is from Rapid I only have a little time out there and want to rock hound but more I want to meet up with other RTH members soooo....
I will leave my house in the AM on Sat it is about 4 hrs out to rapid then have the rest of the day also was wondering if we are going to take a trip to the Rock shop?
Thank you, Steph
|
|
Karen sending you info in a pm.
