So I don't like sports and I started a tradition many years ago of getting far away from televisions on Superbowl Sunday. This has turned into rockhounding trips in recent years as my lapidary adventures have taken over my life. This year I decided a trip to a spot where I can collect petrified wood was in order.
I had been shown this spot during a club field trip. There is a lot of small float to be collected all over the area, but I heard club members tell stories of digging up large pieces here. So I've been wanting to go back for some time, and what better time of year to dig in the desert than winter?
I got to the area and started scouting it out. I found a spot with lots of float on the surface and followed the trail up slope until it seemed I got to the spot where it was originating. I then grabbed the pick and shovel and started to dig. The soil here is very soft and sandy making digging quite easy. Most of the native rock here consists of crumbly conglomerates and soft sandstones. So as I got about 18" down into my hole and the pick hit something hard and made a nice ringing sound I got excited. Could I really get this lucky on my first hole?
I started excavating around the big rock. At this point I wasn't even sure if I was just wasting time on a big ol chunk of leaverite.
After a little work I finally got it exposed and cleaned up a bit. Sure enough, I had struck wood in my first hole! Woohoo!
I had no idea how large the piece might be. For all I knew I was exposing the tip of a big log sitting vertically in the ground. I continued to excavate around it until I had about 12" sticking out. At this point I still could not get any movement in the stone even with a big prybar. So I decided it was time to get out the wrecking ball. A few whacks with a 10lb slegde and off came the fist nice chunk.
Using hammers and prybars I continued to break off all that I had exposed. It did seem as if there might have been more below still, but I was starting to wear myself out, and the haul was already good enough to make the day a success.
Heres my obligatory self-portrait. Standing in the hole I dug this time.
Heres a shot to show you the terrain in this area. It was a gorgeous day in the desert!
Heres todays haul cleaned up and sitting in my driveway. The stuff in the bin is the float I picked up before starting to dig. The rest is what came out of the hole I dug.
A closer view of the three largest pieces. I will call this a successful trip!