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Nevada Rocks

Nevada Rocks

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Nevada made a perfect trip for me as I was starting to foam at the mouth for some rock hunting fun, yet needed some easy hunting while I recuperate.  There’s a few spots I know that I can drive up to the rocks and hunt without having to walk or carry anything too far.  My special thanks to the guys for carrying my pack for me.  I’d have not gotten nearly the special stash I did without just a little help from friends.

There were two spots I rock hunted that had the rocks that I’ve been wanting for some of my crafting.  Those were Fernley for green jasper, and Lovelock for opalized petrified wood.

Fernley Green Jasper:

This jasper runs from light to a dark pine green.  Much of it is hard enough for lapidary, however, some is a little glassy to cut easily.

This one is mossy up close.  This one is for slabbing.

I like the dark greens the best.

A lot of the color mix is just surface and do not run throughout the rock.

Lovelock Opalized Wood

Much of this wood is too glassy for lapidary and breaks easily.  I use it for crafts and displays…….however, there are pieces that are perfect for cabbing, too.  It’s so beautiful, that sometimes display is all someone would even want to do with it.

I sure hope to get back to Nevada again this summer.  There’s just so many places to hunt, and such beautiful material.

Wonderful Wonderstone

Wonderful Wonderstone

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With only a week left here in Nevada, I couldn’t picture leaving without a last trip to my favorite wonderstone sites.  Because, ya know, you can never have too many rocks to haul when you move.   So on one of the first sunny and actually warm days in months I headed out for a day on the rocks.  While my present camera isn’t the best, I did get some pics that will give you an idea of what’s out there.

Part of a good day out.

When I got to the publicized site, I was amazed to see the traffic.  The first time I ever went to the location mine was the only rig there.  And so it was all that year.  This time I just shook my head and passed by all those people at the main site and traveled out further where the rock is colorful, but not the pink and yellow of the one I would go back to later that afternoon.  I was out to get some of all of it.  And I did.

With just a few days left until I head out for Oregon, and a few strength limitations, I was cautious about picking up the boulders I wanted.  If I’d had a jackhammer with me, I could have taken half a hill of beautiful stone.  As things were – I picked up only one actually too big to carry stones. The rest were of varying sizes.  From 3 fist sized to a few just small stones with nice banding.

At my first stop the stones were pretty vivid.

The second site I visited had the pink and yellow stone that the place is known for.

And of course the boulder. I had fun getting this thing back to the rig. Trust me on that one. I’ve carried heavier, but this was a struggle. It’s pretty thick and I’m turning into a little bit of a whimp.  Still – this is the one I HAD to have.

Looking forward to showing a few of these rocks after they’re cut.

Why Rockhounds Love Halloween

Why Rockhounds Love Halloween

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T’is the season to be spooked!

Of course, summer is usually a rockhound’s biggest hunting season, but there’s a lot nature does to help us celebrate that night the spooks and goblins break through their vortex and invade us here on earth. If you don’t believe it – I have the proof right here.

There are some pretty spooky places attached to where people go to hunt rocks — and they aren’t all  ghost mining towns and eerie graveyards.

Where else will  you find as spooky a place to be close to dark than this location in Succor Creek, a favorite rockhound hangout. You can’t look at Screaming rock in the near dark without a chill or two running down your spine.

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And exactly who is this that has been sent from the netherworld to protect a great crystal hunting area in California? If you’re in the area near dark, you can almost hear the banjo playing.

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It’s not just places that are ripe for the halloween loving crowds – it’s the rocks themselves that lend us such a willing hand at decorating for fright night.

Bat cave, in Oregon, isn’t just an apartment complex for the local bats. It’s also full of jasper just screaming to be cut and included in the season’s decorations.

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Where there is someone celebrating Halloween, there’s need for a Jack 0′ lantern.  This agate nodule takes on that job for Halloween rockhounds very finely.

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Along with ghosts and goblins, and spooky places – Halloween isn’t complete without some form of zombified remains.  What could be more apropo for the savvy Halloween celebration than a diseased, leaky, lesioned brain?

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It’s so great that nature is so willing to help chill and thrill us on the night we unleash reality and run with the demons.  If you have any natural spookers – please feel free to post them in the comments!

Happy Halloween from all of us at Rockhoundstation1.com

Life’s short –  Rock hard