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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 23, 2014 20:40:33 GMT -5
John, good to be back and good to hear from you. No joke about saving money on gas ... several rock shows later my bank account is no better off!
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 23, 2014 18:49:16 GMT -5
Hi Folks ... Sort of a part two, here. Over Labor Day Weekend, I decided to take the boys on an "End of Summer" / "Guys Weekend" bash. We started on Saturday at the Ocean View Mine and then left Sunday following church for Bishop, CA where we overnighted and then met my nephew Luke on Monday morning at 6:00 AM for a day of fishing at June Lake and then Convict Lake. My nephew is a serious fisherman, having worked for Tenkara Fly Fishing company and doing a lot of product design work as well. He's one of those guys who will leave at midnight to be at a favorite location at 5:00 AM and fish all day. He's really good. First stop was June Lake. Andrew landed the largest fish of the trip - 2.6 lbs. Next stop was Convict Lake. Nathaniel actually caught the first fish at both lakes. My nephew: We left around 4:00 PM. My nephew went to one more location on the way back. Traffic was bad. What is normally a five hour drive was almost eight. I stopped in Lancaster with my boys for dinner at 10:00 PM at the local Marie Calendars and then we got home about midnight. Man, did we have a blast. The boys have been talking about going back and doing some rockhounding along the way next time. UPDATED 09/27/2014 This area provides some interesting rockhounding opportunities, mostly obsidian. However, while we were up at Convict Lake, Little Virginia Lake and Parker Lake on one of the trips (forgot which one), I did some scrambling around and hauled some items out. The Little Virigina one was a bit of a challenge as we were up at 10,000 ft and climbing higher through the scree to look for rocks wasn't the smartest thing to do. Anyway, I finally got around to taking a few photos. Small Quartz seam / Micromount - Little Virgina Lakes If you look behind my family, you'll see the area where I was climbing and about where I found this little seam. Parker Lake (Might have been Convict Lake, not sure). Haven't a clue what this one is but it's pretty: Exterior: Interior after slabbing: Parker Lake: I swear I did not color this one! I slabbed it was really surprised by the color: Thanks for checking out the photos. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 23, 2014 18:23:51 GMT -5
With school starting on Wednesday, September 3, I decided to take the boys on an "End of Summer Bash" over Labor Day weekend starting with a visit to the Ocean View Mine on Saturday. Barbara had to setup her classroom so this turned into a "Guys Weekend Out" as well. The Ocean View Mine is nice in that you can dig all day with them - no limit to the number of buckets you pull from the pile and it's, more or less, all day from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM. It is expensive though but a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to get out there. Here's a few photos of us at the dig site. They set you up in the rinsing tables with buckets and screens. There were only eight parties there and there was room for 20 so we had plenty of room. Behind Nathaniel, you can see "the pile" taken from their mine. Andrew and Nathaniel, waiting to start. Staff Helpers. The gal on the right next to Andrew you may have seen on the show "Prospectors". Apparently, she helps Amanda out occasionally. They also give you a tour of the place so you can where they mine (not actually in the mine, though). Family friendly operation. They have a covered area where you can keep your cooler and lunch. Next time I'm brining more ice. It was hot. I'll post photos of the stuff. It's in a box in the garage as I've been meaning to take it up to Nevada Mineral and Book to have Walt help me ID stuff. I know we got some small tourmanlines, kunzite, lepidolite, and "other stuff". Part of our problem is that we gravitate to anything sparkly and shiny so we don't get through a lot of materials. I noticed that the repeat visitors didn't waste time poking around at stuff. They just focused on looking for tourmalines and came away with better quality pieces than we did... oh well ... Next Time! UPDATE 09-27-2014 I'm trying out a new camera so if the photos are a bit off, that's the user, not the device! The finds up at the Ocean View mine were a bit thin this pass. One of my buddies came back right after they had started on a new seam and had a lot more material. He goes up there about every other month so his haul is considerably better (and he pays a lot more going that frequently!). Anyway, here's a few shots: Typical of what was going on that day. A few folks found some really nice ones but, by and large, this was the take: Lepidolite: Lepidolite / Schorl / Mica / Quartz: Kunzite (I think): Clear Tourmaline with a Schorl Inclusion: Thanks Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Sept 23, 2014 18:05:09 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've been on the forum ... long enough that I forgot what my username and password were and I had to reset them! Anyway, back in May, Nathaniel requested a trip up to Mule Canyon and then lunch at the "Peanut Restaurant" in Calico (a.k.a. The Calico House Restaurant). So, I woke the boys up early on a Saturday and we were off. First stop, Mule Canyon. The little black Forester is my new off-roading vehicle. The 1993 Land Cruiser died last year due to transmission problems. I wasn't going to sink a few thousand dollars into a 20 year old vehicle so I sold her to CarMax. Very sad. The Forester has all the off-road ability we'll need - we've used it a few times already - and the Land Cruiser was, frankly, overkill. Fun. Just overkill. And with gas prices as they are I went from 12 mpg (with the wind behind the Land Cruiser) to 35 mpg in the Forester. Next, off to Calico for lunch. It was pushing 90 by the time we left for Calico so it was a good time to get out of the field. I'll eventually get around to posting pics of the stuff we picked up. Hope you enjoyed the photos. Paul Update: My Old Girl - R.I.P. UPDATE 09/24/2014 Well, while I got pics, I haven't had time to cut any of these. I did window a couple using the grinding wheel and they look good but I'll have to slab them to be sure. Anyway, here's the pile: And a few close ups: (that looked like a side of beef... Thanks Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on May 27, 2014 14:20:19 GMT -5
Amazing the differences in geodes. Really interesting specimens!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 27, 2014 14:19:23 GMT -5
Very, very nice, Fish!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 27, 2014 14:19:00 GMT -5
Excellent, Tommy! Hope things are great up in the Bay Area ... I miss that part of CA.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 27, 2014 14:18:09 GMT -5
Beautiful pieces, Carlos.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 21, 2014 22:07:45 GMT -5
Right on! That looks like a great haul! Congrats!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 21, 2014 22:06:56 GMT -5
Good to meet you!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 21, 2014 22:06:26 GMT -5
Glad to meet you!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 21, 2014 22:05:47 GMT -5
Good to meet you, Sharon!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 8, 2014 7:41:08 GMT -5
Gorgeous pieces!!!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 6, 2014 20:18:17 GMT -5
It was a pleasure seeing you again, Susan! Yeah, Andrew and Nathaniel along with a friend from church, David had a good time spraying all the rocks in the silent auction! David won a nice set of rocks (one was a really nice amethyst piece). I managed to win a couple as well - one had a nice purple chunk of what looks like Burro Creek agate. Immediately slabbed it when we got home. Along the way, David bought a nice carnelian nodule and they had a great time at the "wheel of fortune" . I bought some laguna lace rough that I have to get around to slabbing as well. Terrific show! So ... anyone going to the CFMS show up in Pomona at month-end? I'm making the show circuit since it's been a bit warm to go rockhounding. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 28, 2014 21:19:41 GMT -5
Lot's of nice stuff there. Thanks for sharing! I believe that the trade calls this one K2 as the granite is found near the base of the world's second largest mountain. Silly name for a rock, huh? I know K2 as a ski run up in Tahoe ... I seem to recall it being a double-black diamond or something really nasty like that. Hope you've been well, Scott? Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 28, 2014 21:18:04 GMT -5
Paul: You have some amazing mineral specimens there that deserve some shelf space. I hope you are handy in the wood shop, or handy at the furniture store. Your kids appear to be at that age that if they get hooked on rocks, they will haul you and your wife around the continental USA in search of more. Hopefully, you will need lots of shelf space. Darryl. Hey Darryl - Yeah, I'm quite handy at the furniture shop - I can whip out my credit card with the best of them! LOL! And, yes, you guessed it - we've run out of shelf space. My Dad got me into rocks when I was about their age and I'm hoping they pickup the bug as well. Thanks for checking out the thread. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 27, 2014 21:25:34 GMT -5
BTW Christopher - thanks for posting the notification!
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 27, 2014 21:24:29 GMT -5
Scott and Susan - Dang ... we'll have to meet up some other time. Was hoping to see you guys! Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 27, 2014 21:23:56 GMT -5
I'm going to be at the Hauser beds, looking for geodes. Jeff - have a great time. That'll be an excellent trip. Happy hounding.
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 27, 2014 21:21:05 GMT -5
Right on, Darryl. Those are terrific pieces. Paul
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