Post by paulshiroma on Jun 19, 2011 0:15:28 GMT -5
Hi Folks:
We were watching some of Andrew and Nathaniel's friends from church today since their parents had some weddings to go to. So, I took the opportunity to take everyone rock hounding. Since this was the first time for Ian and Micah, we took them to Tick Canyon up in Agua Dulce, CA to comb through the old tailing pile from the US Borax mine. The mine itself has long been closed and fenced but there's a big tailing pile on the south side of Davenport road where you can still do some collecting.
Most of the best material has been picked up long ago but the rains seems to reveal a bit more each time we go out. It's also an easy location to get to - good for families with small children (and their friends) - and easy to work. Typically, we've found howlite, yellow calcite, ulexite, agates, mica, chalcedony and the occasional quartz nodule. Nothings in great abundance but you can still find some materials. Ian and Micah arrived around 9:00 AM and we loaded up the minivan and off we went. We spent a couple of hours digging through the base of the tailings and came away with a five-gallon bucket of stuff (in addition to the howlite):
Some of Ian and Micah's haul:
Calcite and Agate Nodule (mica in the top right with a small piece of ulexite just off the pic to the right):
Calcite close-up
Chalcedony seam. This particular rock was about the size of a dinner plate and about three inches thick. The seam ran completely through the rock. And it weighed about ten pounds. Ian really wanted it when I balked at carrying it out. Ten more pounds in the backpack... ;D Ultimately, I'm glad I did pack it out for him. After washing it off, the seam showed up much more clearly. Additionally, the bubbly area turned out to be a small vug several inches across and deep. Turned out to be a pretty interesting specimen level piece. It was also one of the first pieces he showed his Dad when they came to pick them up.
Andrew picked up a bunch howlite and calcite, but was proudest of these:
An interesting bit of red quartz with agate inclusions
Agate nodule
Agate nodule reverse:
Complete howlite pieces. Most of the stuff there is now fragments and what complete pieces you'll find are pretty small, in the two inch range.
The cauliflower variety:
The "are you sure you know what you picked up?" variety...
Of course, I took the camera along and then promptly left it in the van when we got to the dig site so I don't have any of the kids doing the actual digging. Next time. I had enough to carry with all the rocks we were collecting.
So, at the end of the day, Ian and Micah's parents had about 25 lbs of rocks in a box to take home!
Thanks for checking out the photos. Hope you enjoy.
We were watching some of Andrew and Nathaniel's friends from church today since their parents had some weddings to go to. So, I took the opportunity to take everyone rock hounding. Since this was the first time for Ian and Micah, we took them to Tick Canyon up in Agua Dulce, CA to comb through the old tailing pile from the US Borax mine. The mine itself has long been closed and fenced but there's a big tailing pile on the south side of Davenport road where you can still do some collecting.
Most of the best material has been picked up long ago but the rains seems to reveal a bit more each time we go out. It's also an easy location to get to - good for families with small children (and their friends) - and easy to work. Typically, we've found howlite, yellow calcite, ulexite, agates, mica, chalcedony and the occasional quartz nodule. Nothings in great abundance but you can still find some materials. Ian and Micah arrived around 9:00 AM and we loaded up the minivan and off we went. We spent a couple of hours digging through the base of the tailings and came away with a five-gallon bucket of stuff (in addition to the howlite):
Some of Ian and Micah's haul:
Calcite and Agate Nodule (mica in the top right with a small piece of ulexite just off the pic to the right):
Calcite close-up
Chalcedony seam. This particular rock was about the size of a dinner plate and about three inches thick. The seam ran completely through the rock. And it weighed about ten pounds. Ian really wanted it when I balked at carrying it out. Ten more pounds in the backpack... ;D Ultimately, I'm glad I did pack it out for him. After washing it off, the seam showed up much more clearly. Additionally, the bubbly area turned out to be a small vug several inches across and deep. Turned out to be a pretty interesting specimen level piece. It was also one of the first pieces he showed his Dad when they came to pick them up.
Andrew picked up a bunch howlite and calcite, but was proudest of these:
An interesting bit of red quartz with agate inclusions
Agate nodule
Agate nodule reverse:
Complete howlite pieces. Most of the stuff there is now fragments and what complete pieces you'll find are pretty small, in the two inch range.
The cauliflower variety:
The "are you sure you know what you picked up?" variety...
Of course, I took the camera along and then promptly left it in the van when we got to the dig site so I don't have any of the kids doing the actual digging. Next time. I had enough to carry with all the rocks we were collecting.
So, at the end of the day, Ian and Micah's parents had about 25 lbs of rocks in a box to take home!
Thanks for checking out the photos. Hope you enjoy.
