Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 18:23:17 GMT -5
I went duck hunting a few days ago. In the Palm Springs thread I was reminded of the obsidian deposit near the duck hunting grounds. Thus, when I hit the road rocks were on my mind as well as the ducks.
On Hwy 111 southbound on the east side of Salton Sea there is quite a bit of railroad construction taking place. At about the time I needed a "comfort stop" hehe... I saw a HUUUUGE pile of boulders set alongside the road. After some comfort I started persuing the boulders. There were many, 98% too large to put in my truck. One was easily 250 pounds and a very shiny lovely green. Green with lighter and darker banding. Likely some form of onyx. Sadly, I walked away because I valued my spine too much to even try to lift that behemoth. A little more searching and I found this:
It is calcium carbonate, for now I'll call it "marble". Of course I cannot say from where it came originally. So, it's a one off. I love the bright lemony green on ivory background. Maybe we'll see a sphere of this stuff next summer.
OK, so I got back on the hwy, sad my truck bed wasn't full of the many cool stones I saw. Sadly, I was out of trade materials and did not want to outright steal that stuff. It was likely purchased on tax dollars so...
I got to the club too early for the meeting so I headed over to "Red Hill" Marina. For those f you unaware there are some large obsidian outcrops there and very nearby. I hiked around a bit seeking my own, not purchased, obsidian. I found plenty of uncuttable materials. I did bring home a tiny pocket size piece for "good luck" and two probably failed chunks and one nice shiny glassy larger than a softball sized piece. Here they are:
The nice piece:
The two probable failures. The top one is glassy with fine little inclusions. The bottom one is the same but with many many more inclusions. So many the stone seems flat. The glass is shiny between the silver bits. I'll cut it and see if it polishes well.
Nothing ventured....
And that's the rock portion of my trip. The duck part was even more successful. I now have enough duck sausage to make many lunches!
On Hwy 111 southbound on the east side of Salton Sea there is quite a bit of railroad construction taking place. At about the time I needed a "comfort stop" hehe... I saw a HUUUUGE pile of boulders set alongside the road. After some comfort I started persuing the boulders. There were many, 98% too large to put in my truck. One was easily 250 pounds and a very shiny lovely green. Green with lighter and darker banding. Likely some form of onyx. Sadly, I walked away because I valued my spine too much to even try to lift that behemoth. A little more searching and I found this:
It is calcium carbonate, for now I'll call it "marble". Of course I cannot say from where it came originally. So, it's a one off. I love the bright lemony green on ivory background. Maybe we'll see a sphere of this stuff next summer.
OK, so I got back on the hwy, sad my truck bed wasn't full of the many cool stones I saw. Sadly, I was out of trade materials and did not want to outright steal that stuff. It was likely purchased on tax dollars so...
I got to the club too early for the meeting so I headed over to "Red Hill" Marina. For those f you unaware there are some large obsidian outcrops there and very nearby. I hiked around a bit seeking my own, not purchased, obsidian. I found plenty of uncuttable materials. I did bring home a tiny pocket size piece for "good luck" and two probably failed chunks and one nice shiny glassy larger than a softball sized piece. Here they are:
The nice piece:
The two probable failures. The top one is glassy with fine little inclusions. The bottom one is the same but with many many more inclusions. So many the stone seems flat. The glass is shiny between the silver bits. I'll cut it and see if it polishes well.
Nothing ventured....
And that's the rock portion of my trip. The duck part was even more successful. I now have enough duck sausage to make many lunches!