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[Glenn]

Hi, I thought i'd find another lapidary forum with friendly people. I know some people on here already. For those that don't know me i'm from Alaska and often times go to remote places 40 miles away from the nearest road and over 60 miles away from the nearest small town that has at least one store and medical facility.

Grade wise our material is not as good as lower 48 material but there is good lapidary material to be found.. It is just harder to get.


Below is some local material as a glimpse into what I find.



































Last thing is amber





For those that don't know what remote looks like... this is one of the closer locations I go to... the nearest road is a few miles away on the other side of the mountain you see in the distance. a good 10 miles or so out from the closest road

[hummingbirdstones]

Welcome Glenn, from Northern Arizona

Where in Alaska are you?  I loved Alaska when I visited, but I must go back since I only got to see a small portion of the state.  It's gorgeous, but I don't know that I could live there year round.  No sunlight makes me crabby!   

There has got be be great rock there with all the volcanic action and glacier movement.  It's just finding it and getting to it that are the problem!  I think your examples are very promising. What's the blue one in the second picture?

[lithicbeads]

Hi and welcome. There are some great cut stones hiding in those rocks. You have the attitude I had before I got screwed up physically. You would do very well in the jade canyons down here in Washington. You ever come down this way  I can take you out and get you started. I can no longer walk without crutches but I can still taste the long hard days  and the desperate hikes out with a hundred pounds of jade. Really great having you here.

[Glenn]

Hi and welcome. There are some great cut stones hiding in those rocks. You have the attitude I had before I got screwed up physically. You would do very well in the jade canyons down here in Washington. You ever come down this way  I can take you out and get you started. I can no longer walk without crutches but I can still taste the long hard days  and the desperate hikes out with a hundred pounds of jade. Really great having you here.

I'm located in the Mat-Su valley 1 hr from Anchorage (we get sunlight year round and constant during the summer).  The blue rock is chalcedony.

I'd love to go for jade if I have the opportunity. Sometime i'll be posting more photos and maybe a video of a common danger constantly present in the mountains around here..   On a quiet day where we go with no wind all I can hear is my rock buddy hitting rocks with his small hammer over 1000 ft out... and rocks falling.

Next year i'm hoping to find more amethyst which is currently rare to find but I know the mountain its coming from... I hope the rare part will become common for me.. I just hope its coming out of the safe areas as I have an idea of where its coming from... but there is a 1000 ft cliff on one side of the mountain.

[hummingbirdstones]

 The blue chalcedony is a beautiful color.  I asked because it looks so close to the Owyhee blue opal I have.  I can imagine how treacherous it must be trying to dig rocks out of the sides of unstable cliffs.   

I got to visit Anchorage for just a day, but it appears to be a beautiful city.  I had the absolute best beer batter halibut and a nice bottle of Alaskan beer at a pub there.   

[lithicbeads]

I have access to a university system geological reference system called geo ref. I also have borrowing priveleges. If there is an area you would like me to look into just holler and I will see what kind of research has been done in that area.This approach has gotten me to some special spots.

[Phishisgroovin]

post the safety stuff in its own topic please.
At no time do we admins here allow abvious negativity so do not worry.
Safety is all of our top priorities here as rock hounds.

[LithicStrings]

Welcome and thank you for sharing your finds  It sounds like wonderful but a bit scary collecting. ecitng adventures, not for the feint of heart

[Glenn]

Welcome and thank you for sharing your finds  It sounds like wonderful but a bit scary collecting. exciting adventures, not for the feint of heart

It totally is and can be very scary.... also to think that there could be an earthquake! I know what I call remote and what others call remote are a little different but this is like on another planet type of remote :P

I will post my safety reminder video on another thread I guess as long as we are all positive :)

I will send you a pm regarding one place lithicbeads.

[Enchantra]

Greetings and welcome from Sunny central AZ southeast of Phoenix!   

[Glenn]

I guess I forgot to mention that photo 8 is an opalite.

[tntmom]

Welcome Glenn from Western WA!!!