Any rockhounds out there in TW?

A couple more Lake Superior agates.

 

When I was very young I ended up inheriting a collection from my great-great-granparents because I was the only one interested in rocks. I always looked for interesting rocks when we went out. I also enjoyed visiting Thunderegg Days in Nyssa, Or every summer.

I would like to get back into rockhounding, just need to find the time and also figure out where to go in Northern Utah.

 

We want to return to Delta to go look for trilobites, also Topaz at Topaz Mtn. Check out this website from DNR:
https://geology.utah.gov/popular/places-to-go/rock-mineral-collecting-sites/

 

Mining employee here as well. Rock collection is too big to post, it mostly fills my back yard now. Instead, I'll post my favorite rock instruments that I play on every day:

 

Someone mention hounds and Tacoma’s??
Whoops wrong thread

 

How does one get into rock hounding? Is there a good book / site for education?

 

Start with the "roadside geology" series, supplement with the "gem trail" series of books. Roadside geology doesnt necessarily say go here for that cool display piece, but it provides a darn good education along your favorite highways, which gives you vital clues on what to look for.

 

We had a great time at the Thunderegg Days festival, Covid probably will cancel it this year.

 

Thread revival!

I am an avid rockhound, this is really what drives my build. I love off-roading, but ultimately it's getting to where the rocks are and getting them home that keeps me going.

 

Close - a geologist, mostly volcanics.

 

I just found this thread too. Got the taco partially to get to some of the rockhounding locations (a Civic just wouldn't cut it any more).
Was into rockhounding as a kid and was part of a club. Didn't get back into it until I met my girlfriend. She's really into looking for agates and any shiney rocks. We actually just moved to a place that has agates and jasper on the property.
Do a bit of tumbling and lapidary with the stuff we find. Would really like at least a 12 inch slabbing saw and a way to polish slabs and flat surfaces.
Most recent trip was local to find augite crystals. Pure black and fall apart easily unless you find a solid one. Here's a 5 lb agate my girlfriend pulled out of a forest service road that I walked right past. I polished it for her to display.

 

That agate is a dandy.. I have some augite from Doty Hills area I collected a few years ago. Its cool stuff and pretty unique.

I converted a $60 tile saw to a 10 inch saw for hand cuts. The great thing about PNW is there are tons of used lapidary machines coming up for sale all the time on craigslist and Facebook. Here in Tennessee it is slim pickings for used equip. But by far I have saved a ton buying used and refurbishing as I need to.. Have a beautiful 18" auto feed saw I picked up for $400, and a really nice autofeed 10 I got for $250. The trick to finding used equip is be patient until the right deal comes, and be ready to buy when it does. When I am looking I do searches every couple days and in a 250 mile radius, as I would happily drive 250 miles each way to save possibly thousands.

I have rockhounded quite a bit on the west coast and I would be happy to share some cool places with you. Oregon is always worth a trip, as is Utah, Idaho and Montana. Wyoming is not quite as accessible though there are a few cool places.

To show off some regional stuff, here are some Kentucky rocks I have collected the last two years. All but the finished cab are fresh cuts..








A before and after:

 

I didnt expect anyone else to really know the Doty Hills area! That's where the augite crystal came from.

We've explored a few areas around WA and OR. The beaches for poppy jasper and agates, Saddle Mountain for petrified wood, Thunder Ranch. Always looking for fun locations to get out too. I actually got a subscription to OnX maps so I could find out where the public and private lands are. Makes me feel more secure to be more sure I'm on public land when digging, and what type of public lands since the rules change.

I have a 6 inch trim saw, but don't have the space for a larger stand alone slabbing saw until I get a shop built. Still, gonna keep looking for one.

Those are some nice pieces Aardvark13. Have you been practicing lapidary long?

 

i made my first cabs on my dad’s rock rascal twenty years ago, and have had my own shop set up for about 6 years. I haven’t done much jewelry, mostly polishing bookends and cabinet specimens. I would much rather be out finding them lol.

i have found the benchmark atlases to be pretty spot on for showing blm and forest service boundaries if there is also a fence to or some kind of marker you can reference to the map. When there isnt a fence its a little tougher. I haven’t used OnX but that sounds sweet. I will check it out.

 

A Christmas gift from a friend..

 

Glad I found this thread I was about to start another ! I’m more into quartz crystals and semi precious gemstones. But really I just love the desolate places rockhounding takes you. A hobby to lame for most of society. (Good thing) let’s keep it that way. Here is a couple pics from the last couple years
Using the girlfriend to get to that glorious pocket an awesome smokey some weird shit in an old open pit mine I believe they mined arsenic from this huge pit
gold hill Utah some recent quartz finds
About to open up a pocket at topaz mt Utah.
if any of y’all are into the crystals and live near or around Utah let’s go out.

 

That’s awesome. I love crystals also. That smokey is fantastic. I guess you shouldn’t lick the rocks at the arsenic mine. I made the mistake of licking some rocks near that uranium prospect that has the botryoidal opal the east side of the Thomas range years back, but i guess i am fine? Of course we didnt find out it was a uranium prospect till days later.

Utah is a great state for nuts like us. This summer My father and I are doing Montana and Idaho. If anyone has any suggestions i would love it. I have the gem trails books and try to hit all the crystal sites but cant ever visit them all. Maybe dig for fish in Kemmerer idk. I would like to get back to Utah in 2022 hopefully.

 

@Aardvark13 as far as Idaho I will say the sawtooth mountains
It’s “illegal to hound” there
But it is BLM land so it really isnt illegal
All they can do is take your finds.