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[Ranger_Dave]

Last Saturday the Mariposa Gem and Mineral Club went to the East side of the Sierras to pick up some obsidian. We met at the Mobile Station near the intersection of State 395 and US 120. Good food. Expensive gas.

From there we went south on 395 to the turn off for the ski resort of Mammoth Lakes. We went east from there. The first stop we found some little pieces of mahogany but all the black obsidian had pits or lumps in it. Not very good stuff.

Then we took several back roads and ended up that the top of the hill. I think it's called "Lookout Mountain" but there's no lookout. You can get huge chunks of obsidian here, all black and some with visible layers, all of it has those pits and lumps. Great for building walls, but not much else.

Then we went to the north of that area and near the "chalk cliffs." We were looking for some green chert that all of knew about where the formation was. We checked out several dead ends and couldn't find it. Then we took one more turn and came across what looked like the place. It wasn't, but the place was full of pinkish chert and some with some very interesting patterns. We got some nice stuff there.

Then we continued looking for this spot I thought I could find where there is some very nice silver sheen obsidian. We stopped several times at some obsidian in the road, but it was all that pitiful stuff. At our last stop, just to let the other drivers know we were giving up and heading out, someone picked up a very nice piece of obsidian. No pits, no bumps, some visible layers in it. We then started walking the road. We found buckets of nice stuff and many obsidian "bombs."

The two best collecting spots we found by accident. In all, we agreed that it was a productive trip.

Then back to the "Whoa Nellie Delli," at the Mobile Station, for the best burger and fries in the state.  http://www.whoanelliedeli.com/
Good food and good rocks. You can't beat that.

I have the GPS coordinates if anyone wants.

[rocks2dust]

Sounds like a great time! I think it is more fun when the destination turns out to be elusive - more of an adventure. As everything now gets tagged with a gps location, even in the book guides, I wonder if the youngsters are going to lose the exploration part of the rockhounding experience?

[Ranger_Dave]

Half the fun was the adventure. I know that honey hole of silver sheen is out there. It might take a few more adventures to find it. But that will have to wait until late spring. Tioga Pass is closed now. It will reopen in a few days, but the weather is getting iffy making it possible to get stuck on the other side. That would make for a hundred mile, or more, detour to get back home.

[Jhon P]

I have driven by there many times. But only stopped once at the obsidian dome. I know that Davis creek
Has very good and a good variety obsidian. I got a commercial permit one time and collected a ton. It may be worth the trip if you want to load up. I don't think that there is any good silver sheen but there is a great gold sheen

[Ranger_Dave]

Obsidian Dome is on the west side of US395. It has obsidian boulders the size of a small doghouse. It also has lots of pumice in it. It's not good for lapidary or knapping. Further south and on the east side of the highway is where you'll find the good stuff.

Davis Creek is over 7 hours from my place. That would be a multi day trip. Might be worth it though.

[Jhon P]

What are you looking for? I could send you some. Are looking for napping material or cabbing

[Ranger_Dave]

I'm looking for cabbing and trading material. I can trade only so much mariposite. The chert I found might take a polish. It's colorful enough that I might be able to trade some slabs, or rough.

Have you made a sphere out of that Davis Creek rainbow obsidian? That should look awesome.

[Sandsave]

Half the fun is the hunt, unless your trying make money at it.

[irockhound]

Near Bishop the best Obsidian location I have found is off of hwy 6 going East out of Benton towards Nevada.  After you pass State line 3 to 3.5 miles on the Nevada side you will see an old house on the North side of the highway and from what I have heard this was an old establishment of the night.  The road goes to the right of it and leads into the hills which are just nothing but Obsidian nodules with dirt filling the space between them.  The road goes through a wash and then straight up the side of the hill, to the left of the road is the Silver Sheen material.  I have found silver sheen, Gold sheen, Mahagony and Lace here and even a hint of Purple Sheen.  Great spot!

One note to be careful of.  I took my 4x up the hill the first time I went and as you go up you are looking at sky as you reach the top and can't see in front of you.  My truck was spitting out dirt and nodules towards the top and I finally grabbed firm traction as I hit the top, I stopped right as I got to the top and found that the road stops too, there was about a 50 ft sheer drop in front of my truck into the canyon behind the hill, good thing I thought to stop or I would be filling the spaces between the nodules.  Absolutely the best Obsidian area I know of in the area. 
Only place that might be better is the Snowflake location that is unfortunately on China Lake Military base and they stopped allowing collecting a long time ago.

[Ranger_Dave]

Thanks. I'll keep that spot in mind when I make another trip out that way in the spring.