Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on May 26, 2013 9:03:08 GMT -5
Howdy folks Managed to get in another long cutting session yesterday. Didn't start out well. Cut one of my self collected Dryheads from the tub and it was a total dud, solid limestone with no agate at all. Then I cut a hunk of George West wood and it was blah. So then I started picking stuff out of the bin in a less random manner cause I were tired of wasting saw time. Anyway, here are some pics: The blah wood: Very nice and hard to obtain jade from Flyaway Gulch at Bagby in the Merced River Gorge. Few folks know of it but this area at one time was a producer of some excellent nephrite jade. Gold miner friend of mine gave me this piece. This gray green is the commonest color but the area did produce some excellent apple green too. Rio Grande from Zapata with some nice plume: Pulled out three Sierra Primrose Poppy pieces. Love this stuff! The first was pretty but too fractured to be useable. The next was outstanding and very solid: And the third had a pit or two but made my eyes pop. All these nodules are associated with green epidote usually on the exterior or in veins inside. Only example I've ever found with the green going into the poppies. It's actually a bit greener than the pic shows. Finally, the endcuts from the vice showing the variety of types from our hill at the old ranch. These nodules weathered from kind of a partly decomposed andesite type matrix.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 26, 2013 17:19:03 GMT -5
Great looking slabs, Mel. Did you collect the poppy jasper when you were still out here? Curious as the name (Sierra) implies Commiefornia. That Zapata agate is beautiful as well.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
|
Post by Sabre52 on May 26, 2013 19:21:04 GMT -5
Paul, Yes, from when I lived in Commiefornia. I lived in Ojai but we also had a ranch and home in Mariposa County. All these poppies from the Hornitos region ( actually Hunters valley) of the Sierra foothills ( Mt. Williams Range) were collected by me and my collecting buddies within a few miles of our ranch. The Primrose Poppy outcrop was actually self collected on our ranch and two neighboring properties where I had permission to collect.....Mel
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 26, 2013 21:16:30 GMT -5
The "blah" wood is cool, especially the one on the right. Love the poppies too, you always have the coolest ones
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Post by paulshiroma on May 27, 2013 10:23:46 GMT -5
*** Jealous *** Seriously, that's pretty cool, Mel. Living in suburbia the closest you get to rockhounding is ... gravel. With the boys approaching summer break, I've been itching to get back out and do some rockhounding. Thanks for the additional info. One day I'll retire and move the family to The Republic of Arizona (or at least, out of CA) . Paul, Yes, from when I lived in Commiefornia. I lived in Ojai but we also had a ranch and home in Mariposa County. All these poppies from the Hornitos region ( actually Hunters valley) of the Sierra foothills ( Mt. Williams Range) were collected by me and my collecting buddies within a few miles of our ranch. The Primrose Poppy outcrop was actually self collected on our ranch and two neighboring properties where I had permission to collect.....Mel
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
|
Post by Sabre52 on May 27, 2013 14:15:56 GMT -5
Paul: There's lots of rockhounding on BLM land at the north end of Hunters Valley and good gold panning in some of the creeks too. There are public areas where you can camp too but no fires and no facilities. Also lousy with big predators, open mine shafts and rattlers. Rough country but fun to explore if you're into some heavy hiking or challenging four wheeling. There is actually a mountain sized outcrop of good red brecciated jasper down in that area but carrying anything out of that canyon is tough....Mel
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Post by helens on May 27, 2013 14:17:55 GMT -5
Beautiful poppies, as always, Mel!! You could open a store with all the rocks in your yard:)!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
|
Post by Sabre52 on May 27, 2013 14:36:19 GMT -5
Helen *L* I suppose I could but then that would be working. All I wanna do is play!....Mel
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