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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 23, 2011 2:24:45 GMT -5
Andrew got the week off for Thanksgiving so I took a few additional days off from work and he and I went rock hounding today. Nathaniel's preschool, unfortunately, is on their own schedule so he had class today. He and Mommy ended up at Disneyland for the afternoon so I know he had a good time as well. I gave Andrew some options to try out and he selected, depending upon which book you read, the Green Ash Hills (Strong) or Yermo (Mitchell). We also took the opportunity to swing by the Covington Engineering offices to get a new table setup for the combo unit. We got to meet Brian and got a short tour of the facility. Nice bunch of folks! They took the time to show Andrew how they build the machines and gave me some pointers along the way. Anyway, after the visit, we were off to Yermo! We made the left turn at the fork in the road and headed northwest following the wash. Given the rain last weekend, I was watching the trail rather closely and began to notice a lot of agates. About 3/10ths of a mile in, we decided to pull over and take a quick look as I was seeing so much materials. There was so much, we never made it in any farther. We ended up with three five gallon buckets and a daypack full of agates. The first photo is looking almost due east. You can see the dump behind our car.   This is looking northeast (more or less). The dump is on the extreme right hand side of the photo.  Once we got out of the car, stuff was everywhere    Bucket load number one ...  After spending an hour or so at the site, we stopped off at Calico Ghost Town to do the "touristy" thing.      Some miner built his home by throwing up some walls underneath an overhang.  The "Don't be a Moron Sign"  We got home about 6:00 PM and did some quick photos of the materials. Nathaniel and Mommy were right behind us, having stayed at Disneyland long enough to see the parade before meeting us at home. Most of the stuff on the towel is softball sized or larger.    The materials in the bucket are tumbling stuff.  A few close ups:          Thanks for checking out the thread! Paul |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2011 9:39:53 GMT -5
A kid smiling over a rock find is a treasure for sure. I am disappointed though. No pictures of ghosts. Please try harder next time. lol
Jim
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,490
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Post by Sabre52 on Nov 23, 2011 10:21:12 GMT -5
Looks like a fun trip. There's still some nice palm root and bog in that area. I've spent many an afternoon being almost blown off those hills by the wind but when you get a pretty day it's really a great place for a hunt....Mel
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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 Nov 23, 2011 10:23:48 GMT -5
Wow Paul, you're on a roll. Looks like you doing the whole Gem Trails book. Last year we were out about every other weekend, even in the hot summer months. We'd arrive at sunrise and leave around 10-11am, right when the rocks were too hot to pick up.
We know exactly where you went. On the east side of the main dirt road has the same material too.
This coming Monday we're meeting up with Christopher Anthony and going to the El Paso Mountain area, next to the Red Rock Canyon State Park. Christopher & I will be searching for banded & moss jasper, agate, pet wood, etc while Diane will be using her metal detector searching for lost Spanish treasure. Tis the season for rock hounding and the weather is great.
Thanks for all the pics. They're great.
LarryS
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 24, 2011 0:11:36 GMT -5
Larry - looking forward to seeing your photos of the El Paso Mountains! Sounds like it'll be a great trip.
Regarding the Gem Trailsbooks, I also post to the GemTrails.com site - it goes with the Gem Trails books. The guy (Jerry) who started the site uses Mitchell's book but found, like many others, that the locations may have changed status or that the maps might be wrong or have changed as well. Jerry's the most avid traveler. I just dabble LOL! So, yes, I am sort of going through the Gem Trails books!
Mel - yeah, we're going to have to head back. We had an ADD attack and never made it all the way back into the valley. John (Johnjsgems) provided some information similar to yours. Sooner or later, I'll have to invest in a proper 4WD vehicle to get us a bit father in.
Jim - Actually several of my photos had this hazy area offset in the photo to one side or another. I kept looking at the photos thinking I had something ... only to realize that I had put a nice greasy fingerprint on my camera lens ... LOL! We never made it to the cemetary - will get photos there next time!
Geoff - Definitely agree! Andrew's pretty good about varying his activities. We told him that doing only one thing (e.g. video games) will stunt his brain and he'll end up working at MacDonald's the rest of his life. Just joking but he did take the advice to heart and varies his "car activities".
Thanks for checking out the thread, guys!
Paul
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575 
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Post by grayfingers on Nov 25, 2011 20:39:38 GMT -5
Great pics! Love that sky too. Good looking stones, and Andrew looks to be a fun and enthusiastic rock huntin' buddy!
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Nov 25, 2011 21:01:29 GMT -5
Looks like a lot of fun!
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shermlock
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2011
Posts: 612
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Post by shermlock on Nov 25, 2011 21:07:22 GMT -5
Nice rocks. What a great time!
Scott
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Post by christopherl1234 on Nov 26, 2011 17:05:41 GMT -5
Looks like you came home with some great finds!!
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 27, 2011 21:02:30 GMT -5
Thanks guys -
The day was perfect for rock hounding. One the cool side - 68F or so which was perfect for hiking around hauling rocks back and forth to the car. Now that the saw side of the Covington combo unit is repaired, I've started slabbing a few of the finds. Will post those as well.
Paul
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sampson
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2011
Posts: 222
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Post by sampson on Nov 27, 2011 22:01:43 GMT -5
Great pics Paul, looks like you and Andrew had a great time. 68 cool, hehe i'de be sweating in a tshirt if i was hiking around collecting rocks. Great pics of the ghost town too. Looks like you found lots to collect, can't wait to see them once you've had a chance to slice some of them up.
Sampson
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 27, 2011 23:21:15 GMT -5
Hey Sampson -
Good to hear from you! Loved seeing your latest photos. Great stuff.
Yeah, "cool" around Southern California's pretty arbitrary. We start reaching for parkas when the thermometer drops below 70F, LOL! Calico was interesting. The area around it is pock-marked with adits and shafts. While we were at the Covington offices, chatting with the staff there, we mentioned that we'd be up around the Calico area that day. One of the staff warned us to be careful. He was up there with some friends rock hounding and one of them took a step backwards and disappeared down into a shaft. Fortunately for him, the shaft only went down ten feet or so before leveling out horizontally. The rest of the party did a little human chain and hauled him out.
Glad you like the photos.
Paul
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 28, 2011 15:13:36 GMT -5
They had one killed, one crippled last year on two weekends in a row at a mine just above the Calico cemetery. Both guys walked in without a light and stepped into a deep drop just past where the sunlight ended. Can't be too careful.
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 29, 2011 0:05:22 GMT -5
No joke, there, John. It's really odd how some folks don't exercise common sense in such matters. You even see such a lack in, of all places, Disneyland. People get lost in the whole fantasy and leave their common sense behind. And of course, it's always the "other" guy who falls down the shaft. By the way, thanks for the help with the directions!
Paul
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 29, 2011 9:02:50 GMT -5
Paul, by the way, your vehicle would make it to the Green Ash Hills location with no problem. Road is pretty much all gravel and flat. Always best to go with at least two vehicles just in case though. I'm not always around but if you are in this area and get stuck you can call me at (909) 519-1545. It's a good idea if you explore alone to become expert at getting unstuck though.
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 29, 2011 16:01:35 GMT -5
John - THANK YOU very much! I do appreciate that. I was going to pick up some rolls of chicken wire as someone mentioned that you can lay it out for your tires should you get stuck in sand. Might be an old-wives tale. Anyway, I've got your number in my cell and I may call you regardless - you've got me thinking about the diamond wheels for the Covington  . You would have laughed at me had you seen our first attempt at negotiating some rough terrain. A few years back, we went up to Acton, CA to look for some agates. The location off Hubbard road looks easy enough for my Dodge Intrepid (the photos here are of my wife's Pilot) and some of the rock hounding sites mentioned passenger cars can negotiate the dirt road there without issue. What no one mentioned is that there's a nice large drainage ditch that you have to cross. It didn't look too bad on Google Maps ... until you get there. And then, of course, getting in was no problem. Getting out took some maneuvering! LOL! |
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 29, 2011 19:54:26 GMT -5
You have to watch the old guide books. In the 60's and early 70's a lot of people rock hounded in the family car or station wagon. The roads change every time it rains too. Best to know both your limitations and your vehicle. I've never heard of chicken wire but have done a lot of shoveling and putting rocks under the tires. If you have plenty of water, dampening sand makes it a lot more cooperative. Many carry boards along but with the intrepid you are pretty limited.
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 30, 2011 1:04:22 GMT -5
Yeah, great points all! Glad my wife got the Pilot so I can use it on weekends  The boards sound like a good idea as well. Hadn't thought of that. |
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Dec 1, 2011 1:17:38 GMT -5
Paul, my wife and I also have Disneyland passes. I guess you just get used to crowds. Looks like you have a great time collecting. Do you think a Scion XB can do this trip on the dirt road?
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Post by paulshiroma on Dec 1, 2011 9:54:05 GMT -5
Hi billg22, welcome to the forum! Yeah, "crowds" is probably a relative item! 20 minute wait lines seems pretty good after a while. I would suspect your Scion would be okay up to the intersection (see map below). You can park here and walk the rest of the way up the left fork. It's a graded gravel road and, while bumpy, I'd feel comfortable taking my Intrepid up there. I wouldn't take my Intrepid any farther, though. That's where my wife's SUV came in handy, it's got the ground clearance. If you don't want to drive up there, the Minneola off-ramp has some old gas stations and a I found a lot of RV'ers parked there. You could park there and take the one mile walk north, following the road. Others have mentioned that you'll find materials along the road. It's not a difficult walk and the scenery is nice. So you've got options. Have fun! Paul  Hmmm, map didn't copy well. Sorry. |
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