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https://twitter.com/PaleoFeathers/status/1295037988121051137?s=19 Hello, I'm into rockhounding. I'm part of a gem club and they go on field trips out to places to collect locally sourced gem-quality petrified wood and agate. Sometimes I strike it out on my own in an attempt to find new previously unknown sources of material. Unfortunately due to Covid, I'm not able to attend the field trips nor am I able to travel to some of the more far-out dig sites, but I still have access to some pretty cool rocks I'd like to share with you all. Please post your cool rocks in this thread. I'll start with my latest finds: a big white agate I pulled out of a stream in the Cascades, looks like if I cut it open it might have a cavity full of crystals    here's an agate still in its host rock that I collected a few miles up the forest road from the streambed agate  these are agates from the same location, except they had naturally weathered out of the host rock  This one was naturally cracked open to reveal an amazing banding pattern + crystal cavity  This is a load of petrified wood from Central Washington State that's currently on its fine-grit stage of polishing in my 12lb Thumbler tumbler 
Lacrosse fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Aug 17, 2020 |
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Aug 2, 2020 20:29
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 22:33 |
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Elmnt80 posted:Those are very pretty agates and I'd love to see more of your collection. I'll put some actual reading suggestions in the OP when I find time, but I'm fond of the 'Gem Trails of [State]' books. There's 'Rockhounding [State]' books but the author of the Washington State guide had several sexist comments about his wife's rear end sprinkled through the book and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
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Aug 6, 2020 00:04
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tumblr hype man posted:You mentioned the Cascades so I’m gonna assume you’re in Western WA. Picked up Gem Trails of Washington yesterday, but do you have any specific recommendations for newbies who want to get started around here? Mostly looking for stuff to do that’s fairly easy to hike in and out of in a couple hours each way. Yeah there's the Hansen Creek quartz site off I-90 on the way to Snoqualmie. Fair warning though I hear that area is really really popular right now so go at your own risk. Here's someone's helpful guide on everything you need to know about the site: https://hansencreekquartzcrystals.wordpress.com/ Make sure you park at the trailhead with the granite boulders and not the hiking trail that's further up the mountain. The dig site is an easy 10 minute hike from the parking area along what was probably an old logging road so it has a gentle grade. You'll know you're at the digging area when you reach the end of the trail; the hill goes steeply up to the right where the dirt is a crumbly yellow clay and you'll see big craters dug into the hillside. It's very important that you don't dig under trees because that'll kill them and make them unstable. Also make sure you don't dislodge any large rocks as you dig because it's really steep in that area and they'll roll for a really long way down the hill and hit someone. Bring a digging tool like a maddock or a small shovel, and also a clarifying screen and a spray bottle of water (+ drinking water because there's no water around to refill with), as well as a hiking stick or trekking pole for the trip down the hill. You'll also need surveyor's tape for trailblazing, make sure you mark the bottom of the trail before you start climbing because it's easy to miss on the way down. Quartz points are all over the ground there, you don't even have to dig and can just pick them up off the ground in what's known as 'surface mining'. If you're lucky you can find amethyst and smokey quartz in the area but it's mostly clear and milky quartz. The clear stuff is rare but the stuff you do find is clear as ice; definitely optical quality. I've found some the cloudy stuff with pyrite inclusions, which is pretty cool. If you want to join a gem club basically every city around here has them. Issaquah, Kent, Puyallup to name a few. They often schedule field trips so if you want to know all the cool places to go you should join one of the local clubs. The rockhounding books usually have a directory of clubs in the back so see if you can find one in your city. Lacrosse fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Aug 11, 2020 |
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Aug 11, 2020 05:48
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tumblr hype man posted:Awesome thanks! I’m gonna see if maybe there’s a weekday that works best, I know the trails were packed last weekend, and that was in the gray before everything burned off. You could also try Red Top Mountain but I feel like driving to Cle Elum is a bit too far to go in a pandemic. Ditto to the Saddle Mountains outside of Vantage, but also it's fire season in that area and the petrified wood dig site was literally on fire last summer. I haven't been back since last April so I don't know how much damage was done. Also RE: legality, I feel like I should put in the OP the rockhounder's code of ethics so people know what/where you cannot collect. Short version: no collecting in National Parks, State Parks, or Indian Reservations. You also cannot collect vertebrate fossils without a permit, nor Indian artifacts such as arrowheads or broken pottery.
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Aug 13, 2020 00:19
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Hasselblad posted:Made it back out to dugway this fall. Antelope, wild horses, and some decent sized geodes. I need to get a decent rock saw, as I don't want to simply pound them open. Check to see if there's a rock and gem club nearby, they usually have a rock shop you can borrow. Or if you join the club members may invite you over to use their equipment. Definitely don't hit geodes or thundereggs with a hammer, they look better cut open.
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Nov 3, 2021 23:23
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 22:33 |
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I have some concretions I'd like to open because one I found eroded open on its own had a crab inside. A woman I met on the beach where I found them told me I should boil them a pot of water then chuck the still hot rocks into the surf to break them open.
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Nov 11, 2021 01:56
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