Post by hawkewind on Dec 3, 2009 20:23:18 GMT -5
Hello,
I got the rockhounding bug in the past 6 months, being very new to this hobby. I enjoyed rock collecting, on my own, at a very young age and remember one very specific instance that endeared me to rock/fossil collecting forever.....albeit latent in bubbling to the surface (late 30s now).
I was about 8 years old and found a huge (I would guess 2' long and 1' thick) full dinosaur print in a rock that I managed to loosen from the adjoining rock after a week. I showed everyone kid in my neighborhood and was extremely proud of the find and the attention it brought me, even the older kids. Well one day, later that same summer, I told my father about it who didn't believe in the magnificance of my find. I was determined to bring this 3-toed behemoth home to show my dad (I suspect now it was in shale). I carried this HUGE (I was only 8) footprint over a mile home in the middle of a hot summer day. About 80% of the way home, after many breaks and over 1 hour of total time, I dropped it directly onto the surface of a side road....it shattered. I did not cry. But I stared long and hard at what happened and thought deeply. My conclusion? I should have left it for all to see.....or got my dad to help me. Next time I had a find (never as grand), I got my dad.
My favorite past-time is archaeology and I take classes in my spare time at CU. I LOVE history and I LOVE cultures. And you know what, I LOVE geology....just took me longer to realize it. I have traveled the world and even spent a year in college in Australia (I got some raw boulder opal and a some black and green opal while there)....everywhere I went, my number one reminder of the adventure was rocks or gems I brought back in my pockets. In the last 10 years, along with my once a year larger adventure abroad, I go on Jeep trips with my buddies for extended times. We have gone to remote areas of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, not seeing a sole in days off-roading. Agaian, my number one reminder of these great times away was...rocks.
Well here I am today. I have a brand new Wrangler Rubicon (that I know how to drive off-road well), live in the extrodinary state of Colorado, have experienced adventure all my life and hunger for rockhounding. Seems to me I found my "mistress", one my wife tolerates and even shares with me from time to time (Freud would be proud with that analogy).
Why all the jibber-jabber? I look forward to sharing and learning from others here. I have always found that a personal connection goes a long ways in life....
Without further ado, here is my recent trip (with my wife) to Utah....petrified wood found near Hanksville and agate at Yellow Cat;
The Jeep;
After 13 miles of following a (mostly) dry creek bed in the Wrangler....I found a field of petrified wood. Notice the stumps (whitish) and how it erodes into the gullies (easy to spot eh?);
After exploring a mile, as my wife slept in the Wrangler, I found this (I didn't take any, just too beautiful to disturb);
Pictures of the wood I found in the area;
Notice the multi-colored bark on this one;
Found this piece in the ceiling of a mine ceiling (just inside a tiny bit, NEVER go into an unknown and/or private mine, BLM employee helped us on this one);
The ceiling.......it had crumbling charcoal all around the outside of the petrified wood and the wood itself was delicate and black);
Another one from this area....notice the green banding which is uranium staining (so the BLM employee said);
Finally, here are pictographs we found;
Here is jasper from Yellow Cat...we only had 2 hours, per my wife, on the way home.....but she enjoed this a lot....we dug up a 100lb piece that is in the yard!;
I got the rockhounding bug in the past 6 months, being very new to this hobby. I enjoyed rock collecting, on my own, at a very young age and remember one very specific instance that endeared me to rock/fossil collecting forever.....albeit latent in bubbling to the surface (late 30s now).
I was about 8 years old and found a huge (I would guess 2' long and 1' thick) full dinosaur print in a rock that I managed to loosen from the adjoining rock after a week. I showed everyone kid in my neighborhood and was extremely proud of the find and the attention it brought me, even the older kids. Well one day, later that same summer, I told my father about it who didn't believe in the magnificance of my find. I was determined to bring this 3-toed behemoth home to show my dad (I suspect now it was in shale). I carried this HUGE (I was only 8) footprint over a mile home in the middle of a hot summer day. About 80% of the way home, after many breaks and over 1 hour of total time, I dropped it directly onto the surface of a side road....it shattered. I did not cry. But I stared long and hard at what happened and thought deeply. My conclusion? I should have left it for all to see.....or got my dad to help me. Next time I had a find (never as grand), I got my dad.
My favorite past-time is archaeology and I take classes in my spare time at CU. I LOVE history and I LOVE cultures. And you know what, I LOVE geology....just took me longer to realize it. I have traveled the world and even spent a year in college in Australia (I got some raw boulder opal and a some black and green opal while there)....everywhere I went, my number one reminder of the adventure was rocks or gems I brought back in my pockets. In the last 10 years, along with my once a year larger adventure abroad, I go on Jeep trips with my buddies for extended times. We have gone to remote areas of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, not seeing a sole in days off-roading. Agaian, my number one reminder of these great times away was...rocks.
Well here I am today. I have a brand new Wrangler Rubicon (that I know how to drive off-road well), live in the extrodinary state of Colorado, have experienced adventure all my life and hunger for rockhounding. Seems to me I found my "mistress", one my wife tolerates and even shares with me from time to time (Freud would be proud with that analogy).
Why all the jibber-jabber? I look forward to sharing and learning from others here. I have always found that a personal connection goes a long ways in life....
Without further ado, here is my recent trip (with my wife) to Utah....petrified wood found near Hanksville and agate at Yellow Cat;
The Jeep;
After 13 miles of following a (mostly) dry creek bed in the Wrangler....I found a field of petrified wood. Notice the stumps (whitish) and how it erodes into the gullies (easy to spot eh?);
After exploring a mile, as my wife slept in the Wrangler, I found this (I didn't take any, just too beautiful to disturb);
Pictures of the wood I found in the area;
Notice the multi-colored bark on this one;
Found this piece in the ceiling of a mine ceiling (just inside a tiny bit, NEVER go into an unknown and/or private mine, BLM employee helped us on this one);
The ceiling.......it had crumbling charcoal all around the outside of the petrified wood and the wood itself was delicate and black);
Another one from this area....notice the green banding which is uranium staining (so the BLM employee said);
Finally, here are pictographs we found;
Here is jasper from Yellow Cat...we only had 2 hours, per my wife, on the way home.....but she enjoed this a lot....we dug up a 100lb piece that is in the yard!;
