LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 9, 2011 9:37:59 GMT -5
Since it rained on Thursday, Friday was our first real fall temperature like day in SoCal. We thought it would be great to head out into the Mojave Desert and do some rock hounding. We headed to Field Siding A & B sites that has been popular since the 1950’s and pretty much has been picked clean. Already been there 2 times in a year and we weren’t ready to give up. Originally we used Mitchell’s Gem Trail book, which in my opinion is basically worthless. Mileages are off, graphics are a joke and mostly incorrect, not to scale. After studying the 1971 book by Mary Frances Strong, we hit the jack pot. But as with all gem location sites, the further away you get from the road, the more you’ll find. This time we did cross-country driving in the Jeep. We found lots of colorful opaque agate, chalcedony & a few pieces of jasper. Before heading out to any site, I study my TOPO map CD’s and Google satellite maps to make sure where the roads are. Often I find roads by satellite that aren’t on the TOPO maps. The first location is south of the freeway, about 2 miles square. We drove the Jeep deep into the center and my dog Goober & I headed out on foot. We walked for hours, zig zagging our route on foot/paw while my rock bag was getting heavier and heavier. Diane explored close to the Jeep because she’s on new blood pressure meds and they’re kicking her butt. Her B/P has been spiking 180/120 weekly with close to fainting spells! The new meds are working but at a price, leaving her in a vegetative state. She yells a lot less at Goober and I now. Hey guys, e-mail me for the name and you can order some for your wife! We found most of the keeper rocks about a mile south west of the freeway off ramp, far from the picked clean Field Road. We drove to the other side of the freeway to a second location, which is all along a 2 mile long hill ridge. We’ve explored there in the past but only checked out the first ½ mile and found nothing. This time we kept going, past the pole line road and found some guy, out in the middle of nowhere holding onto a radio direction finder. Asked him what he was going, he said he worked for the near by Fort Irwin Army base and said he relocated 15 desert tortoises off the base to this hill location. Guess their hard shells can’t hold up to the weight of the M1A1 Abrams tanks! We drove on to the highest part of the range. Goober & I climbed up and down all the side canyons and kept heading west. Wow, what a work out! We found lots of interesting agate, chalcedony and a variety of jasper in red, yellow, maroon & green. Most will be sliced into slabs and hopefully make some cabochons. Found lots of large rocks that would look cool in a rock garden but were too heavy to carry back. Diane noticed a rock moving near the road. It was a desert tortoise with a radio transmitter epoxyed onto it’s back. I’m sure that guy found him and knows his location. Later Goober and I saw a large red object under a bush. It ended up being a red/yellow hunk of jasper with very rare blue opaque light blue chalcedony layers going through it. It measured 4”x4”x6” and weighs 5 pounds. This stuff is worth it’s weight in gold to some rock hounders. We’ll sell it to you for today’s going rate of gold. Send us a check for $128,000.00 and we’ll deliver it by hand to you, free shipping! LarryS
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 9, 2011 10:19:55 GMT -5
Man do those pics bring back memories. Almost put my wife through the windshield when I slammed on the brakes for a "rock" walking across the road. Later in the day I tore the hose off the power steering on my jacked up GMC Gimmy. Drove all the way back over the pass to Riverside, pulling a trailer. Expensive trip, but I had a load of rocks.
Don
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AGATEGRRRL
spending too much on rocks
AGATEGRRRL
Member since October 2007
Posts: 466
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Post by AGATEGRRRL on Oct 9, 2011 10:29:52 GMT -5
Nice haul - that sure is a fun area to go to. When I lived in SoCal I used to get out to those places fairly often. Keep collecting while you can, as the way things are going in CA, you might not be able to in the future.
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Post by roy on Oct 9, 2011 10:30:51 GMT -5
cool looking jasper
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 10, 2011 23:07:48 GMT -5
Hey, great haul Larry! Looks like you guys had a great time. Andrew's been asking to head back out to the Mohave area again although we'll have to wait until the Thanksgiving break. He and his brother have basketball on Saturdays which pretty much suck up the time. We were considering heading back to the Field Road site although I'm trying to encourage him to go somewhere we haven't been yet (Yermo or Calico, maybe).
What's your plans for the rocks?
Paul
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 11, 2011 10:22:34 GMT -5
Hi Paul,
What are my plans for the rocks? Recently my company got smart and moved out of CA and now I'm collecting unemployment, waiting for Obama's stimulus package to kick in! Might sell the rocks at the freeway off ramps right next to the guys selling oranges?!?! Nah, I'll be slabbing most for cabs and tumble the rest. I'm in the process of insulating one of my outdoor sheds to make it a lapidary shop. My neighbors will be appreciating that. Plus our long triple digit summer here in Hemet slowed me down in doing any slabbing, etc. Now that I have lots of time on my hands and the weather has improved, time to get busy.
If you head back to Field Siding, go to the northern hill top location. It's 2 wheel drive and the recent rains haven't destroyed the road. A little wash boarded in the flat areas. We mainly explored the south side of the hill ridge, north side is pretty steep. You need to drive near the highest elevation of the ridge and start walking south, about 50-100 yards from the road. It's a good hike and the kids will get a work out. Just face the sun and you'll see the good rocks shine. Lots of interesting rocks there. I can give you GPS coordinates if you wish. Not much jasper but lots of weird shaped agate. Plenty of tumbling size pieces. If you want some ornamental yard rocks, this is the best place. There are pieces a foot or two in diameter that looks like white meteors, with craters and all. We'll return to this site for sure. Problem is, every time we visited this location, it was towards the end of the day when we were worn out. Need to start this location in the morning after having a big breakfast at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner in Yermo!
Other good 2 wheel sites are Green Ash Hills, off Minneola Road, east of Calico, near the dump & Early Man Site. Mostly opaque gray/brown agate, if you're into that sort of thing. Tumbling & slabbing sizes. Kramer Hills is good too, agate & palm root in float. We like Brown Butte, west of Edwards AFB, has palm root & this weird brown jasper that I call "root beer jasper." It's the same color as root beer and makes you thirsty looking at it. You'll want to find a A&W Root Beer stand after visiting! I know where there is a huge vein of the stuff and it tumbles nicely, very hard. It's in seam & float.
We've explored much of the Castle Butte area but found nothing exciting. Lots of ATV traffic out there, it's a zoo. Gathering spot for all the LA weekend warriors. On the south side of the butte, you may find a $400 Canon 20X 12MP digital camera. Left it on the roof of my Jeep and took off driving. We back tracked twice and never found it. If you find the camera, it's yours. I just want the memory chip!
LarryS
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Post by tntmom on Oct 11, 2011 10:50:42 GMT -5
Awesome score!!!
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 11, 2011 11:25:00 GMT -5
There used to be a lot of pet palm around the green ash hills too, if you don't mind walking a lot, and chipping a lot of rocks. That desert tarnish does a good job of hiding them. Don
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 11, 2011 13:02:17 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 11, 2011 13:27:41 GMT -5
Goober has almost identical markings as my Jake. Don
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Oct 11, 2011 16:22:29 GMT -5
Looks like you guys had a great time. Amazing seeing all that rocky country! Soooooo, let me get this straight............... for $128,000.00 you will deliver that rock to me, in person? ? All the way to Key Largo? ?? I guess if I had that kind of moola to spend on your rock you could definitely afford a trip to the Keys!!!!HeHeHe
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 11, 2011 20:01:23 GMT -5
Yeah Don, the're cousins sharing the same brain. Priceless dogs.
Donnie, today we're having a special. For a cool $50k, you can have my whole complete rock collection, hundreds of pounds, slab & trim saws, grinders, tumblers & cabing machines! But you'll have to throw in a key lime pie and baby sit Goober while we go scuba diving! When do we start packing?!
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Post by paulshiroma on Oct 11, 2011 22:15:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the extra locations, Larry! Do appreciate the information. I'll take you up on the GPS coordinates, that would make it definitely easier. Those maps in Mitchell's books are good but, as you pointed out, somewhat lacking in detail. We've used them but, like you, I end up checking everything on Google Earth or another mapping package. I ordered a copy of Mary F Strong's book via Amazon but the USPS takes weeks to deliver anything. Amazing that they can deliver junk mail so efficiently.
I think I'll talk to Andrew and Nathaniel about heading back to Field Siding (to the location you mention) or over to the Minneola Road site. Sorry to hear about the camera! That sucks!
Paul
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 11, 2011 22:28:42 GMT -5
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 12, 2011 9:08:28 GMT -5
Here is the pecking order in "Goober's pack." Diane is alpha. Goober is omega. Larry is provider and play toy. They say the Rat Terrier breed can learn 200+ word commands. Goober is extremely smart and probably knows more and eves drop on all our conversations, trying to hear words he knows. He knows all words except "no." His toys have names and and retrieves on command. I also tought him to wake Diane out of bed by just saying 2 words....."momma" and "bed" and point to the bedroom. He'll run in there at jump all over her until she wakes up! Works great. DIane hates it. He's the only dog we've owned that will actually look at the direction you point your finger. He's all personality. He's a disfunctional 3 year old little boy stuck in a 30 lb dog body. Typical Terrier and then some.
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 12, 2011 9:48:43 GMT -5
And I'll bet he loves to dig up the yard too. Jake is a Jack Russel, but shares most of the same qualities. He loves to go for rides, and understands any word related to going for a ride in " his truck". And don't even think about mentioning food. Not even in a whisper when he's at the other end of the house. At almost 8 years old, he has a lot more energy than I do, and has a bigger pile of toys than me. Almost as big as my rock pile. He loves people, but don't let another animal come in his yard. I've seen him take down rabbits, gophers and field mice. Farm cats have learned to stay out of his yard.
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Oct 12, 2011 11:42:36 GMT -5
No, Goober doesn't dig. He use to eat rocks when he was a puppy. Now he looks in wonderment when he sees us collecting rocks. He thinks us humans are weird. He has 46 toys in our living room. He wants more! He likes people too but he wants to eat other dogs until he gets to know them. He likes fighting with dogs 5 times his size, bigger the better. While rock hounding, we have to watch out for rattle snakes. Goober would think they are a new squeak toy. Terriers are hard wired to kill, even a Yorkie. All have pit bull brains. It's up to the owner to keep them under control. Goober thinks he's so cool because he has his own website: outbackteardrop.com/goober.html
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Post by jakesrocks on Oct 12, 2011 12:02:50 GMT -5
Man, I ain't gonna let Jake see that website. He'll want one too. Ya, I try to keep Jake away from snakes. He kills the local garter snakes when he sees them. He's never been around other dogs. Thinks he's a little human. The alpha male in the house pack.
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Post by Woodyrock on Oct 13, 2011 0:09:24 GMT -5
The big problem with Mitchells directions stem from him just copying the maps from Mary Francis Strongs field trip articles in Desert Magazine, and her book. If you are anywhere near Route 66, and using Mitchells book, just measure from Route 66, and NOT the new freeway. If you do this, the distances work very nicely.
Even though most of these sites have been collected on since the forties, you can still find some very nice material, especially if you get away from the road a wee bit. Castle Butte actually does have some good material but it seems to be in pockets, and digging helps....look for old holes. Woody
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