Rock Hounding thru 3 States Options

[EchoBravo]

Army tradition.. never go alone, always take your battle buddy in case things go sideways. This one ended up a solo mission since work got in the way for my buddy. Almost called it off but something told me to just do it. I am glad I did. Although there were things I missed about having someone with, there were also great things I discovered about doing a solo trip. I also noticed animals get closer when you are alone ha ha.. The one time it got spooky was when I was digging and focused, only to have a deer sneak right up on me to see what I was doing. Never even heard it. Oh the irony.

First stop was Wall SD at a free boondocking site. Mainly just a beautiful place to sleep and maybe find a cool agate or two. I also had planned to walk out to a couple of unkown agate beds I found on google earth and cross referrencing a geological map. Since this was day one of the holiday weekend I couldn't get to the access points as the place filled up quicky. But did find a couple cool item to make necklaces out of.












Medicine Bow WY was my next stop looking for crystals... I am no crystal hunter, very new, but was doing some research and found some old phaneretic Granite? Suppose to be where the crystals grow bigger due to the deep magma cooling slowly and crystalizes in pockets.. So was going to do some field researching and try and match textbook to real life. Got camp setup went and marked all my locations that were searchable references on my maps with gps/atv. Got back to camp in time for quiet time, food, sunset. Even an awesome lighting storm, I must have slept through the wind. All trails were blocked the next morning by huge trees and I forgot my chainsaw. So I checked my entry route and it was still clear. Whew! Forecast was for more of the same only in the mountains. So I decided Gunnison for a whole Septarian Nodule was my next move. Was curious of the crystal I found within some quartz. Maybe some feldspar? Looks like the chunks I've seen in granite before.



Now the fun in Gunnison.. after getting camp setup I took to searching for Septarian Nodules. Last year with pointers from JB300 we found some nice chunks but I didn't have room a for a whole one. This year I got 3 nice whole ones! With that yellow orange calcite along the seams. Will look nice sitting in my yard (probably only to me ha ha). Felt like I accomplished a lot already in Gunnison with all the Sep Nods I really needed. I even left 2 huge ones I didn't even try to dig. Maybe good candidates to split open on site JB300??





Figured I would get an early start on the badlands at a different agate bed. Once I got there and got camp setup, I went looking for agates... Only to get distracted by more Septarian Nodules! Shut the front door... This time they had clear crystals in them. I will guess they are still calcite. But could the lighter mustard color be a different form of aragonite? Then others I found other sep nods had darker crystals in them possibly coated by actual aragonite? Of course like a kid in a candy store I got excite by the shiny objects and forgot to take any pics until I got home. What a fun way to spend a week of vacation. I'll need to learn how to clean up some of the crystals but will post anything that gets made into anything.
all whole ones / lighter color mid right is whole Sep Nod from SD



Small Colorado Sep Nod with shells?



Badlands Sep Nods broken open.















Darker Crystals from Badland Sep Nod.








not sure why this pic shows up below cant seem to get rid of it.

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[johnnybravo300]

Wow you had amazing finds! I wish I could have been around to meet up. Shelley and I will bust up those other nods and see what's inside one of these weekends soon.

[Crusty]

Good looking finds!

We've got a spot in SE CO that has nodules the size of volkswagons!

[ASTROBLEME]

Great story and picks. Thanks for sharing your successful trip with us.

[EchoBravo]

Thanks Crusty.. you'll have to PM me that location for next year. Would love to see what is inside a volkwagon sized Nodule!

Thanks Astrobleme.. by the way I am a big fan of the diamond knowledge you hold. I have read many of your older postings, debates, and responses you've given to other hunters who think they have stumbled onto a diamond. The information is priceless as I have taken many notes from your posts for my own pursuits.

JB300 we will run into each other one of these years as I do not see this rock & mineral addiction running its course anytime soon. ha ha. :^)

[EchoBravo]

Convinced my wife these would look great here when I am done adding the mulch.. ha ha. (just testing the look & feel I told her) plus they will make your flowers grow bigger! Got rained out so I guess I'll finish next weekend.

[Crusty]

lol, been there done that. I've got random piles (and buckets) of rocks all over the yard. Mrs Crusty isn't amused

[EMac]

Nice finds!

[EchoBravo]

one of my shepherds think its pretty cool.. ha ha. Neighbors look at it and say "its a what?"




My cutters (waiting for a buddies 24" saw to open up).



SD Sep Nod



CO Sep Nod

[Crusty]

Love it!

[EchoBravo]

Finally cut that chunk of calcydoney I found near Wall SD. The chunk had a frosty look to it (you can see in original post above) but once I cut a piece and started to shape & polish I noticed it started to really clear up and trap light. Too bad it had a lot of fractures but still not bad. It kinda looks like a partially melted ice cube. Which means I like it :^). Guess I'll add it to my other cut stones to make a few more necklaces. Maybe I'll cut a little deeper into the remaining piece of calcydoney and get a clean piece to work with. Working on a couple slices of that petrified wood also. I will add them once I am done.









Devils Toe Nail / Stone Canyon Jasper / Wall SD Calcydoney (aka Dakota Ice) my new name for it :^)

[EchoBravo]

The new (dakota Ice) agate I found has been a real eye catcher. Most folks ask what kind of crystal is it..? I love the confused look on their face when I say it an agate. :^)