88pathoffroad
spending too much on rocks
Oregon ROCKS!
Member since August 2008
Posts: 305
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Post by 88pathoffroad on Nov 19, 2008 17:25:32 GMT -5
I went out to Price Creek near King's Valley, OR yesterday. The area is a tree farm for Rosboro Lumber and is locked up tight 99% of the year. There are tons of old quarries up in the hills...reports from the 90's say people were finding analcime crystals the size of golf balls...as well as apophyllite, quartz, stilbite, chabazite, heulandite, pyrite and calcite (just to name the most common species available). I wanted to find some too! Drove up and down some of the most overgrown, disused, potholed, muddy logging roads ever, didn't find ANY quarries I was looking for! I should have brought a map. Here's the view from the top... This area has 8 different trap rock quarries to look for zeolites in and I didn't find a one! Its also only open during hunting season, two weeks a year. I'll try it again next week when it stops raining, hopefully it'll still be open. I printed out a topo map of the area and now I know where to go!
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Post by Bejewelme on Nov 19, 2008 19:04:04 GMT -5
Wow, looks beautiful, so much more interesting than here in PA.
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Nov 19, 2008 19:25:04 GMT -5
Oregon is BEAUTIFUL! You should try some of the lakes in the area now they are being drained. Lookout Point Reservoir and Fall Creek had to be two of my favorite winter hunting grounds. Still kinda wished I was there about this time of the year. Good-Luck next time you go out. I enjoy seeing pics of that Oregon countryside...so be sure to take many. Steve
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Nov 19, 2008 20:06:09 GMT -5
Man and here I was expecting to read how you encountered one of those stripped rodents that we all dread!
Better to not find any rocks than to get REALLY skunked, I'd say....
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Post by Michael John on Nov 19, 2008 21:07:59 GMT -5
We all get skunked from time to time (except beef, of course). Then, there's been many times that I thought I had good stuff, hiked it out, and brought it home only to find that it's Leaverite.
When seeking-out new places to hound, it's usually best to be as prepared as possible, in terms of "what" you can expect to find "where". Time spent searching and studying on the internet can save you a lot of time, gas, and aggravation. There are a lot of sources of information out there, and it's just a matter of finding it. I've actually found that information found on the internet is more reliable and accurate than word of mouth. Between rock sites, forums, old articles, Google Earth, and even hand-drawn maps, you can gather more information than you'd think about places, even desolate areas. Hounding out in my area is slim-pickins, so I put put quite a bit of time and effort into this sort of study.
Once you've studied the area, and know what types of rocks and minerals are there, do yourself a BIG favor and do Google Image searches on those rocks and minerals, to familiarize yourself with the possibilities. Otherwise, you may just mistake something good for Leaverite.
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Post by Woodyrock on Nov 20, 2008 1:25:43 GMT -5
Take as much advantage of the those open gates as you can. Like Michaeijohn says there are times you hump a big chunk of leaverite out........it hurts much less if you have driven in on open roads than on foot. Again, like he said, take advantage of the internet, and especiall Google earth. The state of Oregon paid extra to have better imagery, so actually seeing where those quarries are will save you time. Woody
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Post by LCARS on Nov 20, 2008 2:39:49 GMT -5
If you don't already have one, get a GPS. You can usually find co-ords for claims online that will get you within a hundred yards.
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rockwolf
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2008
Posts: 97
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Post by rockwolf on Nov 20, 2008 4:12:15 GMT -5
Lol! I was also expecting a picture of a cute little B&W critter!! Beautiful view though & good luck for next week!
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Post by Tonyterner on Nov 20, 2008 12:34:14 GMT -5
Dang I'd be happy with the scenery. OK maybe not when I know there are great rocks nearby. I hope you find the quarries on your next trip. I second the google satellite photos, they are so good they are scary.
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Post by Michael John on Nov 20, 2008 13:02:00 GMT -5
Yeah, Google Earth is an invaluable tool, but you cannot count on it as being 100% accurate and up-to-date. In wilderness areas, "roads" frequently and/or quickly erode or are improved and expanded. Since, in most areas, satellite images aren't frequently updated, it's very common to arrive at your destination to find that things aren't as they appeared on Google Earth. The same is true if you're following someone's description of their past experiences in an area. Backroads are frequently inaccessible due to erosion, mudslides, rockslides, land purchases, and government intervention. On the upside, it's also very common to find that a road which used to require a Monster Truck has been nicely graded and can be driven by a passenger car or 2WD truck.
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88pathoffroad
spending too much on rocks
Oregon ROCKS!
Member since August 2008
Posts: 305
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Post by 88pathoffroad on Nov 20, 2008 16:31:27 GMT -5
Yup yup yup...I visited the TerraServer and saved a bunch of topographic maps, printed them in black and white after editing them to increase contrast and bolden names and numbers, then taped them together after trimming the edges with a straight-line paper cutter. I now have a map made of 7 quadrants that shows me ALL the recorded locations of what they had back in the 70's when the topo maps were made. That's another part of the problem. Maps from the 70's... There are easily four times as many spur roads and new logging roads today as there were in the 70's. It's easy to miss a turn when there are four of them instead of just the one! I've visited this area in the past, but in my 4WD Pathfinder, so I could go up any road I wanted. This time I took my Chevy van. It's 2WD, weighs about 1.5x what the Pathfinder does and has a horribly long wheelbase, so no exploring for me unless I wanted to get stuck. The first time I visited the area I did find a quarry and had some small luck finding crystals: The problem with looking at Oregon coastal mountain satellite pictures is that they're all full of trees! You can barely see the roads, much less creeks or points of interest. Anywhoo.
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