Field Trip - Henderson Hills Jade
Jul 11, 2019 22:16:43 GMT -5
rockpickerforever, Tommy, and 10 more like this
Post by NevadaBill on Jul 11, 2019 22:16:43 GMT -5
Today was a good day to get out, explore, and look for rocks. I got a late start and it was 90 (F) degrees outside. I knew the location fairly well because I had hiked in to these hills back in January. From my air conditioned home, it seemed like a fun idea.
The target rock I that I want to find is called Henderson Jade.
Long picked over by locals and residents of the Thr33 K|ds mine site for the past 100 years, there is very little left to be found. But some scraps are still available to those that look hard or are lucky.
Back in January I came here looking specifically for this rock, and spent half the day there. I found none. And it was only after I checked the tailings in one small dig on the way out that I finally found a golf ball sized chunk of this rock. Above you can see it polished. Here is what the matrix side looks like:
The rock is very hard, (about as hard as Agate), and will polish up from Light Green, to very Dark Green and almost translucent Olive Green.
I wanted more of it. And now I knew what to look for. So, back in to the hills I go.
The terrain is very rugged. I brought my heaviest boots to protect feet and ankles from rocks which are sharp, and a fall can be very unforgiving. The land is tilted all over here. Mostly hiking is done on dirt, with rock scrambling. Some areas have exposure.
Arriving at the top of the hill, this is what it looks like. It is 1.25 miles to this location from the dirt pull off, and also about 550 feet of elevation change. Here is a video I shot in January from the location, which shows the panoramic desert which surrounds you.
But today the heat is punishing. I didn't know it but by the time I had reached the location it was about 105 (F). I had passed a couple of mine digs. Most digs are just in plain dirt / rock, and are shallow about 50 feet long, and 15 to 20 feet deep. Nothing more.
The whole time, it is hard to stay focussed on the target rock. This is because there is a plain, very soft, crumbly mostly garbage rock which is mixed in with the rock I want to find.
Some times there can be some green rock to be found here. But almost never hard. There are tons of harder versions of this green rock. Mostly green on the outside due to the chemical elements in the rock itself, exposed to weather.
So, while you are bombarded at every turn by the plain green rock (very pretty in its own right, but 99.999% useless for lapidary work, it is very distracting and tempting to look to see if there is anything good in those rocks. But there almost never is. You have to focus on the vein matrix.
Pretty much at this point, it was hot out, and even though I had water it was warm like radiator water from being in the pack, and I was starting to get tired of hiking. I went rock collecting on Tuesday and it was starting to wear me out.
While out there, other rocks can be found which to me are very interesting too. I don't know what this rock is.
It might appear boring, but I think it looks like small animal bones which are trapped in a lava basalt kind of rock. I really cannot guess. But This little guy came home with me. He is the only one I found and is in the garden now.
Digs and more digs. The green splotches of rock travel all the way through these hills, and finish about 2.5 miles from this location, on a hillside found on the other side of the highway I drove here on. In to the Lake Las Vegas hills.
Digs are common (about 25 all together), and look a lot like this one:
It is not exciting. And it is dangerous. You are always side hill, on some steep slope that can put you a long way down if you slip. The rock is sharp. It is very igneous volcanic, charred by the sun, heat and time. Speaking of hot, it was time to eat a hot power bar for some energy.
While taking a break on the side of one small dig, and look down and see a half buried scarf or cloth, deteriorated over time, and revealing something metallic. I pick it up. It is an old pocket watch. Kind of like the one grandpa used to have with him all of the time. He always wore a suite. And a hat.
These digs were active in the late 1910's, all the way up to the early 1960. I would guess that this watch is very old. The hands are missing and so is the glass part. I am not a watch expert, but it is pretty beat up. This is one of my finds of the day!
If you do not want to tread on private property, there are two ways to these Henderson Hills where the Jade can be found. One is very difficult (the way I came today), and the other is an easier route, which goes through a small wash valley. I am going to go back that way.
My way back looks like this. Sort of. You can make out a dirt road, which is part of the old, original Thr33 K|ds Mine site. I am going to walk the wash and see what kinds of rocks I can find in it.
There are huge Gypsum boulders in this wash. Pulled out from the mine and discarded long ago to the side. Useless on their own, but interesting as some are the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.
The mine refuse can also be found in this wash. How interesting. I remember opening cans of Shasta Cola when I was little, in these tin cans using a can opener. I think that most of us can remember doing this. Hehe.
Look, it is the discarded head gasket from a Caterpillar D10 bulldozer likely. Look at the size of those heads! The calendar bores are pretty large.
Here is an old tin can which likely contained an industrial oil. I don't know which, but it is a yellow container, and there is a white colored person on the label. You can make out the leg in this picture.
If I was a person who enjoyed looking through old garbage dumps and refuse from ancient mine sites, this would be a very cool place to look for stuff. Most of this is off the beaten path, and does not see barely any traffic. No trails here.
OK, this is my second find of the day. It is a tape dispenser! And even though it looks rusted and bent all up, it actually is in great shape. This is actually the shape of the dispenser. It is meant to carry a thin reel of tape. And is not bent up at all. This is a keeper! It is very old. I cannot even find a picture of one.
Here is another picture of my antique keepers for the day.
OK, here are my rocks of the day. There is a variety here, but most of it is the Henderson Jade.
The Green rock is hard enough for me to hit with a saw and see how it handles a grinder. The mostly grey green translucent rock I broke open with a rock hammer. That is what I was looking for mostly.
I will hit this stuff with the trim saw and see what comes out of it. Maybe some will turn out OK. Some won't. The Red rock was found in a location not near the Green. I am not sure what it is. But it has fine streamers of white quartz going through it. I realize that a lot of this is junk and will pan out to be a very unappealing translucent grey or something.
But the trip was interesting today. I had been out for 4+ hours, and the heat was getting the best of me, even with lots of water in my hydro-pack.
When I got back to the Jeep, the temperature was 112 (F). I always pack a 1/2 gallon insulated drink with loads of ice for drinking, just for days like this when it gets really hot. I was happy to find that was still ice cold.
Thanks for coming along today.!
The target rock I that I want to find is called Henderson Jade.
Long picked over by locals and residents of the Thr33 K|ds mine site for the past 100 years, there is very little left to be found. But some scraps are still available to those that look hard or are lucky.
Back in January I came here looking specifically for this rock, and spent half the day there. I found none. And it was only after I checked the tailings in one small dig on the way out that I finally found a golf ball sized chunk of this rock. Above you can see it polished. Here is what the matrix side looks like:
The rock is very hard, (about as hard as Agate), and will polish up from Light Green, to very Dark Green and almost translucent Olive Green.
I wanted more of it. And now I knew what to look for. So, back in to the hills I go.
The terrain is very rugged. I brought my heaviest boots to protect feet and ankles from rocks which are sharp, and a fall can be very unforgiving. The land is tilted all over here. Mostly hiking is done on dirt, with rock scrambling. Some areas have exposure.
Arriving at the top of the hill, this is what it looks like. It is 1.25 miles to this location from the dirt pull off, and also about 550 feet of elevation change. Here is a video I shot in January from the location, which shows the panoramic desert which surrounds you.
But today the heat is punishing. I didn't know it but by the time I had reached the location it was about 105 (F). I had passed a couple of mine digs. Most digs are just in plain dirt / rock, and are shallow about 50 feet long, and 15 to 20 feet deep. Nothing more.
The whole time, it is hard to stay focussed on the target rock. This is because there is a plain, very soft, crumbly mostly garbage rock which is mixed in with the rock I want to find.
Some times there can be some green rock to be found here. But almost never hard. There are tons of harder versions of this green rock. Mostly green on the outside due to the chemical elements in the rock itself, exposed to weather.
So, while you are bombarded at every turn by the plain green rock (very pretty in its own right, but 99.999% useless for lapidary work, it is very distracting and tempting to look to see if there is anything good in those rocks. But there almost never is. You have to focus on the vein matrix.
Pretty much at this point, it was hot out, and even though I had water it was warm like radiator water from being in the pack, and I was starting to get tired of hiking. I went rock collecting on Tuesday and it was starting to wear me out.
While out there, other rocks can be found which to me are very interesting too. I don't know what this rock is.
It might appear boring, but I think it looks like small animal bones which are trapped in a lava basalt kind of rock. I really cannot guess. But This little guy came home with me. He is the only one I found and is in the garden now.
Digs and more digs. The green splotches of rock travel all the way through these hills, and finish about 2.5 miles from this location, on a hillside found on the other side of the highway I drove here on. In to the Lake Las Vegas hills.
Digs are common (about 25 all together), and look a lot like this one:
It is not exciting. And it is dangerous. You are always side hill, on some steep slope that can put you a long way down if you slip. The rock is sharp. It is very igneous volcanic, charred by the sun, heat and time. Speaking of hot, it was time to eat a hot power bar for some energy.
While taking a break on the side of one small dig, and look down and see a half buried scarf or cloth, deteriorated over time, and revealing something metallic. I pick it up. It is an old pocket watch. Kind of like the one grandpa used to have with him all of the time. He always wore a suite. And a hat.
These digs were active in the late 1910's, all the way up to the early 1960. I would guess that this watch is very old. The hands are missing and so is the glass part. I am not a watch expert, but it is pretty beat up. This is one of my finds of the day!
If you do not want to tread on private property, there are two ways to these Henderson Hills where the Jade can be found. One is very difficult (the way I came today), and the other is an easier route, which goes through a small wash valley. I am going to go back that way.
My way back looks like this. Sort of. You can make out a dirt road, which is part of the old, original Thr33 K|ds Mine site. I am going to walk the wash and see what kinds of rocks I can find in it.
There are huge Gypsum boulders in this wash. Pulled out from the mine and discarded long ago to the side. Useless on their own, but interesting as some are the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.
The mine refuse can also be found in this wash. How interesting. I remember opening cans of Shasta Cola when I was little, in these tin cans using a can opener. I think that most of us can remember doing this. Hehe.
Look, it is the discarded head gasket from a Caterpillar D10 bulldozer likely. Look at the size of those heads! The calendar bores are pretty large.
Here is an old tin can which likely contained an industrial oil. I don't know which, but it is a yellow container, and there is a white colored person on the label. You can make out the leg in this picture.
If I was a person who enjoyed looking through old garbage dumps and refuse from ancient mine sites, this would be a very cool place to look for stuff. Most of this is off the beaten path, and does not see barely any traffic. No trails here.
OK, this is my second find of the day. It is a tape dispenser! And even though it looks rusted and bent all up, it actually is in great shape. This is actually the shape of the dispenser. It is meant to carry a thin reel of tape. And is not bent up at all. This is a keeper! It is very old. I cannot even find a picture of one.
Here is another picture of my antique keepers for the day.
OK, here are my rocks of the day. There is a variety here, but most of it is the Henderson Jade.
The Green rock is hard enough for me to hit with a saw and see how it handles a grinder. The mostly grey green translucent rock I broke open with a rock hammer. That is what I was looking for mostly.
I will hit this stuff with the trim saw and see what comes out of it. Maybe some will turn out OK. Some won't. The Red rock was found in a location not near the Green. I am not sure what it is. But it has fine streamers of white quartz going through it. I realize that a lot of this is junk and will pan out to be a very unappealing translucent grey or something.
But the trip was interesting today. I had been out for 4+ hours, and the heat was getting the best of me, even with lots of water in my hydro-pack.
When I got back to the Jeep, the temperature was 112 (F). I always pack a 1/2 gallon insulated drink with loads of ice for drinking, just for days like this when it gets really hot. I was happy to find that was still ice cold.
Thanks for coming along today.!