LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on Feb 7, 2012 11:22:44 GMT -5
Geez, am I hooked on this place or what?!?! Head back out to Site G in the El Paso Mountains and did some major rock hounding & exploring. Had to get in more trips before snake season. I wouldn't want to be here in the summer time. Too bushy & rocky for snakes to hide. Found some new great sites. Weather was very cold for SoCal.....60 degrees. Eat your heart out guys! We headed back up this one valley we found last trip but this time we came prepared and brought along our Broll bucket cart. Went to the jasp-ag seam crossing the road and someone else has been there over the past couple weeks and was trying to get the rock out. We collected what we needed and partially filled up the bucket cart and sent Diane down the hill to the Jeep. Goober & I stayed and did a lot of cross country exploring. We found lots of new hot spots. Even looked for the rock hammer I lost on the last trip. That other guy probably found it! We found lots of new jasp-ag seams, each seam being a different color variety. Plus we found lots of float in certain areas. Even found more yellow moss the book talks about being in a closed off area a couple miles away. More seams. Found a small gully that had lots of yellow moss. Found boulders of jasp-ag 2-3' in diameter. Too bad Christopher wasn't along to carry these back! We then drove back to the main dirt road and headed east to the back side of the mountain at Site G. On our second trip, Christopher climbed up and over the ridge and reported seeing a rock cabin ruin down in the valley. The hill top on the right is basically where Christopher climbed up from the other side. We drove up the road from the back side, doing it the easy way! It was definitely a 4 low Jeep road! Diane was getting nervous. Cool caves in the gully. Here's Goober showing off wheelin'. I had to yell at him to stop ridding the clutch. He growled at me, drove off and made me walk! Diane's a good wife by rolling the bucket cart back to the Jeep, all down hill of course. This cart doesn't have enough ground clearance to take out in the bush but it worked fine for this application. I still ended up carrying a full bucket by hand out in the bush. Uhhhh! After 4 wheeling further up the back side valley, we found the old stone cabin. This place was so cool. Told Diane we should sell our place and move here. All we need is a door, windows and a roof. What's amazing is how in the heck did the guy build this place when there isn't any water around to mix the mortar. Took a lot of trips to haul the water in. On the back side of the cabin, there is about a 200' straight drop off and one hell of a view of Last Chance Canyon. Goober is not afraid of heights and kept walking to the edge, giving me a heart attack! Here's the view of what that guy saw out his back window. You should see the colors in person. Breathtaking. This place would make a great movie set for Star Wars. Caves all over the place. Many had smoke soot on the ceilings and were obviously inhabited by Indians. Hill top on the right is the one Christopher climbed over and where Goober was 4 wheeling. Here's our total haul. Lots of variety here and some of the larger ones will be for my mom's patio. I have a lot of slabbin to do! LarryS
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 7, 2012 13:06:59 GMT -5
Guess we know who's Jeep that is. lol Jake thinks he can drive his truck too. Somewhere in my old pic albums I think I have a B&W pic of that same stone cabin. Man I miss bouncing around those hills. Your pics bring back lots of memories. Don
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Post by paulshiroma on Feb 7, 2012 16:05:37 GMT -5
Hey, Larry - thanks for taking us along and, yes, you should just move out there. Seems like you're up there every other week or so . Beautiful haul! I guess that bucket-thingy worked well? Paul BTW - I hope you didn't lose that blue pickax in the background! I was thinking about what you had said, about losing your hammer the other week. I'm constantly setting mine down as we work, too. So, since Nathaniel and I were at Home Depot on Saturday I picked up a workbelt, the kind with the loops for hammers and such, for our trip later this month. Can't wait to get back out!
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Feb 7, 2012 21:24:46 GMT -5
When does snake season start?
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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 Feb 8, 2012 10:07:31 GMT -5
Almost all desert critters are nocturnal. Place comes alive after the sun goes down. Current temps are below freezing at night and warms up to 50-70 during the day. As soon as your evenings start warming up, that's when most snakes come out. If it gets too hot in the sun, they seek shade under bushes or rocks to regulate their cold blooded bodies. Snakes main diet is kangaroo rats which are nocturnal. You'll see zillions of holes in the ground. That's where the snakes food source lives, the rats. Snakes have enemies too, like the roadrunner bird and hawks, which are out during daylight hours. We've had baby Pacific diamond back rattlers come out at my work in Temecula last January! Spooked everyone because we were wondering where mommy & daddy was. Snake season usually starts around March or April, again depending on the temperatures. Those who are not familiar with romping around out in the desert, please be careful. You never reach into things where you can't see. Walk away from bushes & rocks. Snakes can strike half their body lengths, not spring out 20' like on the cartoons. Most local species are only 3-4' in length max. But they have small rattles. They don't rattle like on TV, they hiss. Wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard one rattle and most of the time it's behind me! I either walked passed it or stepped over it. Believe me, it's a high pucker factor! If they know you're there, they will try to get away. But most of the time they strike out of defense without warning because you surprised them, like sticking your hand under their bush while grabbing that pretty rock. The most venomous rattle snake in north America is the Mojave Green rattle snake. They use to have a TV show on cable, Discovery Channel I think that was called Venom ER where a MD Shawn Bush at Loma Linda hospital near San Bernardino treats all the major snake bite victoms. You get bit anywhere in SoCal, most likely they will air lift you there. They showed people bit by all the common rattlers. No big deal. The ones who got bitten by the Mojave Green freaked you out. You'd see all the muscles in their body twitch and ripple, like Alien was living inside you. Morphine can't kill the pain. You're in pure hell. It was hellish to watch! Common rattlers in our area is the Pacific diamondback, Speckled & Sidewinder. All have perfect camoflauge and you can easily step right over them and think it was a stick. Please be careful and leave your pets at home during the hot season. Goober would love to play with a rattler, thinking it was a squeek toy. Here is the Mojave Green. They have brown patterns on all different shades of green background. I've seen them from a dull to bright pea green. This guy was in the middle of the dirt road warming himself in the early morning and didn't want his picture taken. HE WAS MAD! He took off lightning fast too! We saw 3 that morning. I've spoken to many local rangers where they hate it when they have a heavy rainy season where all the grasses grow high. They can't see the snakes on the ground. LarryS
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Post by Roller on Feb 8, 2012 10:33:38 GMT -5
very informational .. thanks
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 8, 2012 11:05:04 GMT -5
Those buzz tailed snakes aren't all found on the ground either. They've been known to crawl high up in bushes, trying to catch a bird meal. When in snake country I carry a 6' walking staff to probe the bushes around me, heavy leather boots and snake gaiters. Also a .38 strapped on my hip, loaded with snake shot.
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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 Feb 8, 2012 13:38:02 GMT -5
Oh, don't forget scorpions hide under rocks during the day. Arizona has those wonderful little bark scorpions. Tiny in size but big on sting. They like crawling into tents, shoes & sleeping bags.
Best thing to do if you're concerned about when snake season starts, read Desert USA's form or other desert related forums. People will post "They're here!" You won't read about it in the LA Times.
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 8, 2012 14:00:18 GMT -5
In all the years I spent hiking and camping in the California deserts. I only saw one scorpion. That was at the Salton Sea. But I've seen my fair share of those buzz tails.
Thankfully we don't have scorpions in South Dakota, but the buzz tails grow big up here. Saw a pic a while back of a guy holding a dead rattler up on a garden rake. The guy stood over 6' tall. The middle of the snake was on the rake, and its head and rattles were on the ground. Lots of hat bands and belts in that one.
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Feb 8, 2012 20:30:31 GMT -5
Anyone out at Gem Hill and Yermo this weekend, if you see some guy walking around in full hockey gear, it will be me being safe from snakes. Not really. But I was going to bring a hockey stick along. I'm pretty good with one and I can dig around in the brush from a distance.
A few years ago I got a great close-up picture of a rattler under a fallen Palm tree in the Palm Springs area. Thank goodness for zooms on cameras.
I'm hoping all the snakes and bugs will still be napping. But we will be on guard. Thanks Larry!
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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 Feb 8, 2012 20:48:44 GMT -5
We haven't been to Gem Hill yet. Hope Paul left you some material to collect! Just kidding. Make sure you take lots of pictures. I just hope the hill isn't too steep for Diane to pull her new rock bucket cart!
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Post by paulshiroma on Feb 9, 2012 0:15:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the additional information regarding the snakes, Larry. Genius that I am, it never occurred to me to be worried about the snakes. Lived too long in the city, I guess. I tried to convince Andrew that we hit up this location but he wanted to go back to Yermo and Gem Hill. So, we'll be right behind you, Bill! About a week or so behind you as we're heading up there on the 24th. Try to leave some for us! LOL!
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Feb 9, 2012 0:34:01 GMT -5
Paul, I'll leave the BIG stuff. I'll trust Andrew about Yermo and Gem Hill!
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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 Feb 9, 2012 10:36:34 GMT -5
I leave the big stuff. If it don't fit in my 10" saw, I'll leave it for others who have the big saws. Occasionally I'll take a large one for my mom's rock collection on her patio, which drives my dad nuts because he thinks she has too many. I already tried hammering and chiseling this stuff and it's too hard. I even left this yellow moss behind but I know where it's at. Has lots of brothers and sisters! LarryS
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Post by mohs on Feb 9, 2012 11:35:15 GMT -5
great pictures good haul enjoyable read ! Thanks Ed
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Feb 9, 2012 11:41:24 GMT -5
I might grab two or three for my garden. I like looking at the Google Sat. maps of these areas. Question. From the maps, you can see the colors of the ground. Is the material in those areas the same color? Or do you find other colors in one area?
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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 Feb 9, 2012 18:38:24 GMT -5
I use both Google & Wiki satellite maps. The colors are slightly off on both. I've seen images that looks like black lava and it's actually huge clumps of creosote bushes. Some of the "jasper hill" locations in the Cady's show up at orange or red. But that is all decomposed jasper and poor quality but the ground is completely covered with it. Little dirt, just jasper. I've found jasper float not listed in the gem books that is further away from where everyone visits. I use the satellite maps to find ash flows, seams. If I physically find material in one ash seam, I look for more and mark it on my Topo maps. I even check on the other side of the hill, same elevation and maybe the same ash seam? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
LarryS
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billg22
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 451
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Post by billg22 on Feb 10, 2012 0:58:59 GMT -5
We plan to take it easy out there and take our time. Our first stop will be Gem Hill on Saturday and stay the night in Mojave. Sunday we plan on stopping at Kramer Hills (site E) and spend the evening in Hesperia. Monday morning we will head up to Yermo for the day and then on home.
I'm just a little worried about my car doing "off roading". It will be a little test on the XB. Should be a nice weekend anyway.
Thanks for the info!
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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 Feb 10, 2012 9:09:35 GMT -5
Kramer's roads get kind of confusing. If you look at the book maps and compare them to the satellite & Topo maps, nothing jives. Lots of small agate float all over the place. Day we were there, 2 rock clubs were visiting the place with tons of vehicles. Never did visit the sites so we just started walking cross country. Found a nice piece of palm and the cab looks great. Roads are good there. Nice place to stay is a new Days Inn in Lenwood, that place with all the outlet stores just south of Barstow. New, clean & cheap. They allow pets too. At Yermo, just stay on the main dirt roads and you'll be fine.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 10, 2012 9:59:39 GMT -5
I like Kramer. It takes a lot of walking, but the black dendrites on pink agate can be pretty. Plus there is one hole in that whole area that produces purple: Happy hunting!
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