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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 15, 2013 12:47:37 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 13:13:50 GMT -5
I've been to the Mojave every month this summer!
[/rubbin' it in!]
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 15, 2013 13:17:27 GMT -5
Desert Rat!!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 13:48:15 GMT -5
Great video. I have not been to the desert. I want to drag my camper down there this winter (warmth) but I don't think I will be able to make it.
I guess that you use the high banker dry and vibrate it or something like that? Lots of water up here so I would be way out of my element there. I am pretty good at looking down while I walk though and it looks like there is plenty of rock to look at.
Jim
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 15, 2013 14:03:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliment on the desert video. I was last out there at OW in November, too long ago... It is a big, dry, dusty, and (for a good part of the time) windy place. But beautiful, so much to see. Need to put a fuzzy over the microphone pickup on my videocamera, LOL!
No, Jim, wet. We have a recirculating system, using a 37 gallon Rubbermaid container with about 20 gallons of water in it. We bought a dirty water sump pump from Harbor Freight and added a ball valve to control the flow amount, and some PVC pipe/fittings from Home Depot. The sluices are made from sheet aluminum - a sheet metal shear and press brake are invaluable. It's a sweet little set up!
I keep getting sidetracked (ADD) from editing that video! Will get back to it now.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
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Post by grizman on Aug 15, 2013 14:22:33 GMT -5
Just curious, what kind of rocks was your friend "gathering" for you that day...can you remember? I do some desert exploring in the washes just a little north of Tucson, but I have never found anything of any value as far as tumbling to a nice shine.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 14:49:25 GMT -5
Duh. I knew about that because I ran into a prospector on a creek here and he was telling me about the recirculation that he did down that way somewhere. In fact I did it once in a creek. There was a pool of water but no water coming down the creek so I set up at the bottom of the pool with my straight sluice, ran wires to my pump from the Jeep and pumped the water back up the creek. I was digging just a little ways down the creek and carrying the gravel in buckets to the sluice. It is a back killer for sure. I did it one summer until I could not stand the pain and the pain meds would not touch it even a little bit.
I had another MRI yesterday and I hope it convinces them to do a fusion so I can get back to digging. It is very hard work but it keeps my muscles in shape and helps my balance stay tuned up. I think that I will not be doing any more back packing all my equipment any more though. If I could carry food, water and something to keep me warm so I could stay the night and hike back out the next day I would do it again. Carrying in and out the same day about killed me. Two people doing it together would be the ideal way to go about it. I do not know anyone else dumb enough to follow me though. lol
Jim
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 15, 2013 15:42:38 GMT -5
Just curious, what kind of rocks was your friend "gathering" for you that day...can you remember? I do some desert exploring in the washes just a little north of Tucson, but I have never found anything of any value as far as tumbling to a nice shine. Grizman, she was not gathering them for me, but for herself! Whilst I seek rocks that I can use in lapidary work, she likes ones that are purdy. She has a rock garden at home. The area we frequent has an interesting geological history. Over the millenia, it has been underneath a river, a lake, a shallow sea and an estuary. It has deposits from when it was all these things. We've found lots of different types of corals, sponges, petrified wood and camel vertebrae (old, from an extinct camel). Some of the most interesting/colorful/hard items found (useful for lapidary) were actually deposited from many miles away to the north (Northern AZ, UT, etc) by the ancient Colorado river. I've got a fossilized colonial coral, which someone on fossilforum IDed it as a colonial rugosan (which went extinct during the Permian), "likely an erratic from one of the Paleozoic horizons in the mountains around that area." In other words, the deposits from this area do not match the age of the beast, it didn't live here. It was highly silicified, so withstood it's travel here in good shape. Here, I'll put up a couple of photos:    We also find colorful wood that came from elsewhere. The stuff petrified in situ is a boring brown. |
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
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Post by grizman on Aug 15, 2013 16:28:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the descriptive (photos too) info on your desert finds in your area. I realize that the majority of the skill" to finding great specimens is knowing what they look like in their natural state. I don't have many of those skills, and at my age there is little doubt that I will not be acquiring them soon! Thanks again for the photos of your finds!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2013 21:50:46 GMT -5
grizman - I'll be in Aridzona this winter. Maybe @azrockgeek will be tour guide again. He finds rocks and I find snakes and lizards. We'll have a party! You might could have more gorgeous rocks than you know what to do with.
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Post by kk on Aug 16, 2013 6:08:22 GMT -5
Looks interestingly different out there, but I think I would not find anything there. To me, everything would look the same. I'm hopeless, when it comes to roughs. Can't see a tree in the forest.  |
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Post by Rockhobbit on Aug 16, 2013 9:09:16 GMT -5
The Arizona desert is indeed full of color! I have a few places around Phoenix that yield many agates! You don't have to look hard because it is EVERYWHERE! It took a little bit to get back there but everyone went home with some great stuff! I love living in AZ!
Sheri
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 16, 2013 10:09:29 GMT -5
Kurt, you'd be surprised at how much color is out there. In places, the rocks are just littering the surface, and the wind-blown sand has polished them. There's also areas with lots of rocks, but not polished, leaning more to granites and the like. You don't need to have eagle eyes to pick out shiny colorful rocks that will take a nice tumble! Rocks, rocks, everywhere  Shiny rocks and a critter  Another. Check out the wind polished rocks!  Doesn't look all that comfortable  Bunches of golfball sized concretions. Spunky for size reference.  "Road" up Split Mountain Gorge  Tarantula Wash  For James - Our camp at times has more dogs than people. And you know what dogs do... Made up this sign to mark our spot. (San Diego County Butt Sniffers Association)  Some surprises  The dogs loved romping in this. Probably some law we were breaking allowing them to do so...  This strolled into camp one morning  A sunrise. Yes, I am normally up early enough to see them.  And lastly, did I mention that we get free air shows? The Ospreys have been putting on shows for us the last couple of years. Believe these are stationed at the Marine base in Miramar.  Hope you liked the pics. This is just a little slice of my (desert) world. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
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Post by jamesp on Aug 16, 2013 10:51:17 GMT -5
I am very jelly ous of people living in that territory.
Except where Spunky is sitting. I have never seen so many turds in all my life.
And they are almost equally spaced. that should be posted in the turd thread Jean.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 16, 2013 11:05:55 GMT -5
Done.
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grizman
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since July 2011
Posts: 878
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Post by grizman on Aug 16, 2013 11:55:32 GMT -5
grizman - I'll be in Aridzona this winter. Maybe @azrockgeek will be tour guide again. He finds rocks and I find snakes and lizards. We'll have a party! You might could have more gorgeous rocks than you know what to do with. Uhhh, Shotgunner I may have to take a pass on your invite to "intentionally" go lookin' for snakes. I am a big boy (200+lbs) and I'd be a hell of a burden when it came time to pack me out. I guess that is assuming that you'd even try and not just leave me there. Now as to why? I have never been able to recover from my deathly fear of ALL kinds of snakes, and I KNOW what kind are in the Aridzona desert! After my fatal heart attack right after my 1st encounter with your long, skinny friends, you'd have to make a choice. Leave me, or draw and quarter me. If you just left me, you'd have to deal with my wife! I have way too many "honey-do's" around the house to get out of them that easily. All kidding aside, I'd love to learn more about the collectable rocks in my area which is just a little north of Tucson (Oro Valley). My best bet for finding wonderful (and very expensive) rocks is at the annual Gems and Mineral Show in Tucson. I will never get to see it all in my lifetime. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2013 12:12:04 GMT -5
Dang, I am bigger than you! For awhile anyway. You wouldn't be intentionally seeking $nakes. I would!!. Ur safe in my hands!
Failing that, indoors rockhounding in tucson sounds fun too!
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Post by Pat on Aug 16, 2013 22:10:32 GMT -5
Thanks for the pictures. I love the desert and warmth. Good looking corals, too. The lizards? are darling! The tarantula --- not so much.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Aug 16, 2013 22:16:21 GMT -5
What effects does the intense heat have on you Jean?
Have you ever seen a mirage?
And have you ever got a little lost and thirsty/dehydrated?
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 17, 2013 7:42:01 GMT -5
Pat, that was just the tip of the iceberg! I have more photos taken in the desert than you can shake a stick at! Glad you liked them. The same trip that the tarantula showed up, we also had a coyote come into camp. Got a good picture of him as well. We see lots of horned lizrds out there, cute little guys.
James, I like the intense heat, as long as it is not humid. A dry 100 degrees is fine by me.
A mirage? Anyone that has driven down a hot desert road has seen a mirage. It can look like there is a shimmering pool of water on the roadway a bit in front of you, which disappears as you get closer to it.
A little lost, maybe. But I generally have a good sense of direction. As for the last, I tend to run dehydrated most of the time. I don't sweat a whole lot.
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