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Post by HankRocks on Jul 2, 2020 16:28:41 GMT -5
About a week and half ago we rented a lake house in the Texas Hill Country. I decided to make a run up to the Llanite site as it was only 90 miles way from the house. It was sunny and hot and my wife decided she needed to go along to "supervise". The Llanite outcrop is right on the highway north of Llano Texas. It's hard rock mining at best to get to fresh material that is not weathered. Fortunately I had my digger bar, a pry bar and hammer and chisel. Was able to get into some fresh material and ended up filling a bucket. A couple of pieces were pretty weathered but I brought them home for a friends rock garden. A few pics;  IMG_0710 by Findrocks, on Flickr Fighting cactus for some good material;  IMG_0720 by Findrocks, on Flickr Other side of the road;  IMG_0730 by Findrocks, on Flickr The haul from the trip;  IMG_1894 by Findrocks, on Flickr Closeup of the better pieces with the color showing;  IMG_1895 by Findrocks, on Flickr I did leave a 200 pound boulder of average material, wanted to spare my back and my wife's new knee. Also left someone a nice 80-90 pound piece of better material, lugging these big pieces is getting less and less attractive to me. |
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Jul 2, 2020 17:10:49 GMT -5
Great blue color on those pieces Hank! Thanks for all the pictures. I had never seen Llanite rough before. I thought it would look more like a granite outcropping. I'm dying to get down to the Hill Country. I want to check out Pedernales Falls and Llano.
Is the outcropping on public land or ranch?
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Post by HankRocks on Jul 2, 2020 17:45:57 GMT -5
Great blue color on those pieces Hank! Thanks for all the pictures. I had never seen Llanite rough before. I thought it would look more like a granite outcropping. I'm dying to get down to the Hill Country. I want to check out Pedernales Falls and Llano. Is the outcropping on public land or ranch? The collecting is on the highway right of way outside the property fences. The outcrop extends onto the private land, but it's not a good idea to cross any fences in Texas. If you look at the one picture, you can see one of the tall big game fences. I did not see any so not sure what they are raising there. If you go, bring a good pry bar and a hammer and chisel, look for the fractures. Also look at the material, the lighter color is weathered and will not take a good polish. Look for the darker material. If you are in the area, check out Enchanted Rock. No collecting but the hike to the top is pretty neat. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 2, 2020 18:56:05 GMT -5
Nice report. Love the pic showing the color.  |
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Post by fernwood on Jul 2, 2020 22:00:14 GMT -5
Llanite is so beautiful. Looks like a fun trip.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 2, 2020 22:05:47 GMT -5
It looks like you got a nice haul there, but it also looks like it was a lot of hard work!
Thanks for posting pictures of your trip. The rough you collected looks really nice.  |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Mar 24, 2022 20:39:02 GMT -5
My wife, 4 year old daughter and I rented a cabin up in Llano for 2 nights next week. We hope to check out this spot to collect some Llanite. We will also check out the Llano river in a few spots (and the ice cream shop in town!). Thanks for the pictures and information on what to bring! Any other tips you may have are appreciated, but not expected. Cheers, Dillon About a week and half ago we rented a lake house in the Texas Hill Country. I decided to make a run up to the Llanite site as it was only 90 miles way from the house. It was sunny and hot and my wife decided she needed to go along to "supervise". The Llanite outcrop is right on the highway north of Llano Texas. It's hard rock mining at best to get to fresh material that is not weathered. Fortunately I had my digger bar, a pry bar and hammer and chisel. Was able to get into some fresh material and ended up filling a bucket. A couple of pieces were pretty weathered but I brought them home for a friends rock garden. A few pics; IMG_0710 by Findrocks, on Flickr Fighting cactus for some good material; IMG_0720 by Findrocks, on Flickr Other side of the road; IMG_0730 by Findrocks, on Flickr The haul from the trip; IMG_1894 by Findrocks, on Flickr Closeup of the better pieces with the color showing; IMG_1895 by Findrocks, on Flickr I did leave a 200 pound boulder of average material, wanted to spare my back and my wife's new knee. Also left someone a nice 80-90 pound piece of better material, lugging these big pieces is getting less and less attractive to me. |
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 24, 2022 20:44:18 GMT -5
My wife, 4 year old daughter and I rented a cabin up in Llano for 2 nights next week. We hope to check out this spot to collect some Llanite. We will also check out the Llano river in a few spots (and the ice cream shop in town!). Thanks for the pictures and information on what to bring! Any other tips you may have are appreciated, but not expected. Cheers, Dillon About a week and half ago we rented a lake house in the Texas Hill Country. I decided to make a run up to the Llanite site as it was only 90 miles way from the house. It was sunny and hot and my wife decided she needed to go along to "supervise". The Llanite outcrop is right on the highway north of Llano Texas. It's hard rock mining at best to get to fresh material that is not weathered. Fortunately I had my digger bar, a pry bar and hammer and chisel. Was able to get into some fresh material and ended up filling a bucket. A couple of pieces were pretty weathered but I brought them home for a friends rock garden. A few pics; IMG_0710 by Findrocks, on Flickr Fighting cactus for some good material; IMG_0720 by Findrocks, on Flickr Other side of the road; IMG_0730 by Findrocks, on Flickr The haul from the trip; IMG_1894 by Findrocks, on Flickr Closeup of the better pieces with the color showing; IMG_1895 by Findrocks, on Flickr I did leave a 200 pound boulder of average material, wanted to spare my back and my wife's new knee. Also left someone a nice 80-90 pound piece of better material, lugging these big pieces is getting less and less attractive to me. Like I mentioned, go for the darker material, may need to move a bit of dirt to uncover it. Most of the lighter material is weathered and probably will not take a good polish. I saw some better pieces on the west side of the highway. Be mindful you are on a highway and there is some traffic so watch the little one. |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Mar 24, 2022 21:02:06 GMT -5
Thank you! In terms of the safety - Yes, my wife and I have already discussed that - we will take turns monitoring the little one while the other chips away. If it looks too unsafe we will just head to the river instead - worth a shot though. Thanks again! My wife, 4 year old daughter and I rented a cabin up in Llano for 2 nights next week. We hope to check out this spot to collect some Llanite. We will also check out the Llano river in a few spots (and the ice cream shop in town!). Thanks for the pictures and information on what to bring! Any other tips you may have are appreciated, but not expected. Cheers, Dillon Like I mentioned, go for the darker material, may need to move a bit of dirt to uncover it. Most of the lighter material is weathered and probably will not take a good polish. I saw some better pieces on the west side of the highway. Be mindful you are on a highway and there is some traffic so watch the little one. |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,492
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 25, 2022 6:51:22 GMT -5
Man, you are one hard worker! I drive by there now and then and that material is very, very resistant to letting one break off high quality material. I even broke off a sledgehammer handle on that stuff one time. It is a beautiful sight though if you see that outcrop after a rain when all the blue is washed off. The best hunks are really had to obtain and what you collected is a testament to some hard work!
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Post by HankRocks on Mar 25, 2022 7:24:14 GMT -5
Man, you are one hard worker! I drive by there now and then and that material is very, very resistant to letting one break off high quality material. I even broke off a sledgehammer handle on that stuff one time. It is a beautiful sight though if you see that outcrop after a rain when all the blue is washed off. The best hunks are really had to obtain and what you collected is a testament to some hard work! I appreciate the comment, I prefer to think that luck has a lot to do with it. That and 25 plus years of hard rock mining/digging Quartz collecting trips to Arkansas has taught this thick skulled Bohemian a thing or two about reading rock outcrops. It just occurred to me there are a couple reasons for the west side of road to be a bit better with less weathered material. The Hwy 16 at the Llanite outcrop runs a bit west of true north. That mean the "west" side being a bit northeast facing does not receive as much sun, especially the afternoon. The other is that the west side is less sloped that the east side, adding to the sun exposure on the east side. I suppose this even applies to Agate fields in sloped areas especially desert areas. Generally a lot more vegetation on a north facing slope, less erosion, less soil and rock exposure. As opposed to a south facing slope that has more erosion exposing more rock and soil. |
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realrockhound
Cave Dweller
Chucking leaverite at tweekers
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4,459
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Post by realrockhound on Mar 25, 2022 12:36:59 GMT -5
Love seeing stuff like this. Nice work,
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