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Let's Rock => Rockhounding Tips, Maps, Trips Etc. => Topic started by: Cabbin Fever on April 02, 2017, 07:48:22 PM
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I will be visiting San Francisco, Monterey, Yosemite and Sonoma Valley in October- places with ROCKS! (vs. my current rocklessness now living in Florida) however, I will be hampered by other family members who will have limited tolerance for rockhounding.
I know that the chances of finding an Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper are close to finding gold...(meh, who wants gold? you can't cab that!) as it is only on private lands now.
The few places I think I will actually be able to scout about will be Wilder Ranch beach in Santa Cruz, somewhere around Monterey and Carmel if we find a walkable beach (we are all Sr. Citz, so know rock climbing) MAYBE along the roadside on 152 from Gilroy to Mariposa if I can fake a need...I don't suppose I dare pick up a grit of sand while in Yosemite...and maybe some hillside poking around in Glen Ellen.
Anything worth looking for in these areas????
Thanks!!
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Do you want some Mariposite? How about chiastolites? Jade? There is also Snelling, a town surrounded by 9 miles of dredgings from the Merced River. When you get to the Mariposa area let me know. I can get you directions, or take you there if it's on a weekend.
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Check out Hans Gammas site to see what beaches his pictured jasper specimens originated on.I lived in Yosemite and there would be little in that area for you but Mariposite can even be had in landscape rock yards in the foothills.
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I live in Mariposa and within an hour, hour and a half, I can get all kinds of jasper including Hornitos poppy jasper, spider marble, jade, mariposite, chiastolites, tons of white quartz, quartz crystals, scheelite (when the snow melts), fossil oysters, chromite and other stuff from the mantle, zoisite/thulite, soapstone, tons of serpentine, and much more.
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Do you want some Mariposite? How about chiastolites? Jade? There is also Snelling, a town surrounded by 9 miles of dredgings from the Merced River. When you get to the Mariposa area let me know. I can get you directions, or take you there if it's on a weekend.
Dave, your offer is much appreciated, but my traveling companions (hubby, his brother and wife) are not rock people AT ALL, and our stay in Mariposa is just to get us close enough to Yosemite a 9:30 tour. :(
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I live in Mariposa and within an hour, hour and a half, I can get all kinds of jasper including Hornitos poppy jasper, spider marble, jade, mariposite, chiastolites, tons of white quartz, quartz crystals, scheelite (when the snow melts), fossil oysters, chromite and other stuff from the mantle, zoisite/thulite, soapstone, tons of serpentine, and much more.
I am noting all of these and hoping that I can poke around the edge of parking lots and find something of use. I think my 2 best spots on my trip will be the beach and the creek alongside the motel in Glen Ellen. But, if you see some lady scrabbling through the roadsides of Mariposa, you will know my family ditched me! LOL!!
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Then maybe you could entice your friends to go to the California State Mineral and Mining Museum in Mariposa. They have a 201 troy ounce (13.8 pound) crystalline gold nugget.
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Then maybe you could entice your friends to go to the California State Mineral and Mining Museum in Mariposa. They have a 201 troy ounce (13.8 pound) crystalline gold nugget.
Wow!! Well guarded, I hope! Thank you, I will look this up too (I looked up images of all the types you listed - beautiful!)
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The Fricot nugget is in a safe in a vault. No pictures allowed. There are some very fine specimens of other stuff in that museum.
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Just as a side note on the topic of gold nuggets, the 'Hand of Faith' nugget is on display here at the Golden Nugget casino any time you are passing through Las Vegas. It is the largest ever found by metal detector at 875 troy oz. I've got pictures of it somewhere here on my computer.
I have often wondered if they have a replica on display and keep the real deal locked safely away somewhere. Its kind of a weird place where they display it. Its in a case in the side of a wall down a quiet hallway off the main casino floor.
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Another large nugget is at the Ironstone Winery in Murphys, CA. This nugget is what is left after all the quartz was removed by acid. The wines there are mediocre at best. Just see the nugget and then go to see the two caves nearby.