6/25 slabs H & H, Hornitos and Horse Canyon
Jun 26, 2014 8:37:37 GMT -5
rockpickerforever likes this
Post by Sabre52 on Jun 26, 2014 8:37:37 GMT -5
Howdy folks,
Yesterday I cut till the power feed overheated, went for a long hike, and then did still another session till the gulldanged thing overheated again. Got me ten slabs which is a big day. Got tired of cutting wood so here are a couple of new ones....Mel
When my buddy Tom and I worked the tailings of the old Hornitos Jasper pit Tom named the "Holy Grail Pit" because of all the old and wonderful poppy types to be found there, some of the jasper we dug had really been subjected to geological stresses over the eons. The poppies, instead of being well defined orbs or flowers, were stretched and distorted into almost bands. Really weird stuff but very bright colors and more solid than most the regular poppy. Here is the one I cut yesterday. Note the poppies are almost defined on the bottom left of the top cut.
Further into the stone, the flowers are totally distorted into bands.
Less distorted piece so you can see what the poppies normally look like:
Same pit, different rock, still less distortion:
Several years ago, myself and a couple of buddies were invited to visit the Horse Canyon agate beds out of Tehachapi, CA. Was a club trip that required combinations for locks to get in. Owners were super nice and let us camp at this fantastic resort with tile showers etc. Really, really beautiful campground and really nice hosts. Right after the field trip some jokers ( probably from the club group) used the combinations to get in and cut the rancher's fences to get closer to the agate. Result: Horse Canyon closed till it was partitioned off and sold for real estate development. Sometimes rockhounds are their own worst enemies.
Anyway, we found some pretty interesting material. Horse Canyon reminds me so much of Woodward as there is not one type of agate you cannot find there, even palm and palm root. The owner of the place had an incredible, museum quality, collection of big oval cabs representing almost every type of agate. Worth the trip just to view that collection! The prizes were several types of plume. Here's one of several types of Horse Canyon green plume ( I have at east three types). Only had one small piece of this and finally decided to cut it up.
Closer look:
Yesterday I cut till the power feed overheated, went for a long hike, and then did still another session till the gulldanged thing overheated again. Got me ten slabs which is a big day. Got tired of cutting wood so here are a couple of new ones....Mel
When my buddy Tom and I worked the tailings of the old Hornitos Jasper pit Tom named the "Holy Grail Pit" because of all the old and wonderful poppy types to be found there, some of the jasper we dug had really been subjected to geological stresses over the eons. The poppies, instead of being well defined orbs or flowers, were stretched and distorted into almost bands. Really weird stuff but very bright colors and more solid than most the regular poppy. Here is the one I cut yesterday. Note the poppies are almost defined on the bottom left of the top cut.
Further into the stone, the flowers are totally distorted into bands.
Less distorted piece so you can see what the poppies normally look like:
Same pit, different rock, still less distortion:
Several years ago, myself and a couple of buddies were invited to visit the Horse Canyon agate beds out of Tehachapi, CA. Was a club trip that required combinations for locks to get in. Owners were super nice and let us camp at this fantastic resort with tile showers etc. Really, really beautiful campground and really nice hosts. Right after the field trip some jokers ( probably from the club group) used the combinations to get in and cut the rancher's fences to get closer to the agate. Result: Horse Canyon closed till it was partitioned off and sold for real estate development. Sometimes rockhounds are their own worst enemies.
Anyway, we found some pretty interesting material. Horse Canyon reminds me so much of Woodward as there is not one type of agate you cannot find there, even palm and palm root. The owner of the place had an incredible, museum quality, collection of big oval cabs representing almost every type of agate. Worth the trip just to view that collection! The prizes were several types of plume. Here's one of several types of Horse Canyon green plume ( I have at east three types). Only had one small piece of this and finally decided to cut it up.
Closer look: