Where has Chrissy gone? (Part 2)

Lets pick up where we left off talking about where I went last summer on my rock hounding adventures shall we.

Lovelock, NV

The following Sunday we decided wanted to explore what we could find out by Lovelock, NV. We had been there once before with my parents looking for opal, to which we didn’t find anything but that was my first rock hounding adventure after moving here in August of 2017. After doing some research I knew I wanted to look for banded agate, leopard jasper and common opal. We ended up finding so many pretty rocks, one of which did end up having some green common opal at one end. Upon cutting the rock into slabs I saw both banding and spots. More on that later when I talk about making slabs from my rocks. This was a good trip and I’m excited to cut more of the rocks open to see if they’ll be worth creating cabochons or not. This is the trip that I made the conscious choice to look at my collection more critically with the thought in mind “Could this be something worth making jewelry out of? Could this tumble well? And is this unique enough to collect?” So, with that thought in mind, I was much more selective with what I came home with.

Nightingale Mine, NV

I love rock hounding with my husband for many reasons, he always makes it fun, he’s my navigator or navi-guesser, your pick, he helps direct me through some tough spots so that we make it out on the other side safely and yes some of those spots we’ve decided that it was a complete no go. This attempted trip to Nightingale Mine ended in one of those no-go spots. Last winter we had a lot of snow, then rain and snow melt runoff which in turn leads to lots of gravel roads being washed away by water creating deeper than average ruts in the low spots. This was nearly the entirety of the trail we went down, thanks to google maps leading us this way. We did not collect anything nor take any pictures on this trip but learned a very valuable lesson, don’t always trust google maps. It took us approximately 3 hours to drive nearly 95 miles, so yes it was tough and fun but very slow going. Eventually, we picked a road that was going towards I80 and luckily, we got phone service that helped us get the rest of the way there. Now we joke about never completely trusting google maps.

Tucson, AZ

In late August I drove down to Tucson, AZ to rockhound with my friend Ray. On my way down at a gas station in Beaty, NV while filling up the jeep a couple of wild yet likely somewhat tamed donkeys came up the cars at the pump. Some people fed them carrots and an apple was split between the 2. As I was leaving heading towards Las Vegas, NV I had to stop before even leaving town because a few more were crossing the road. We ended up mapping out where we wanted to go which worked wonderfully. Each day we had at least three locations we wanted to find. Some of the locations weren’t as easy to find or the exact locations were at a mine which there was no way we’d be able to get into it, so some days felt like a total bust. However, others were amazing with finding a lot of small pieces of banded quartz and a few pieces that look to be fire agate. The last day or so Ray and I spent cleaning the rocks as best we could with both a sieve and water to get off as much dirt as possible. Next trip I make down there I plan to bring my rock screens to do all the cleaning of lose dirt in the field. Plus, we both want to get back to some of the places we went to get a closer look at what’s around. We did have to turn around at for one location due to the road being rather muddy and we had no cell service, so making a wise call we’re going to try for Turquoise Mountain another time when it’s not so wet out. Did you know that in Arizona they have areas designated at rockhounding areas? No, neither did!

Grimes Point and various other places in Nevada

For the closing rock hounding event, it was in early October a coworker, Jason, and I wanted to get out and look for some Wonderstone and fluorite out by Fallon and Middlegate, NV. This turned into a rather fun day for me, he enjoyed doing new things with a friend. Plus, we got to see the coolest little lizard basking in the sun. The location for fluorite was just south of Middlegate, NV a little, wasn’t a rough or hard drive at all which trust me is refreshing from white knuckle driving in some of the locations I’ve been to. We found some pretty light purple fluorite out there, small nuggets mind you, but it was pretty and obviously purple. I look at a lot of my locations I visit as either learning curves or scouting missions especially if it’s the first time I’ve been there. Even other times it’s the realization that I need to drive a little further down the road to find an even better place, it’s all learning.

So as a whole last year was busy, fun and filled with learning experiences that I won’t forget. Going out with my husband, my friends Jason here in Nevada, and Ray down in Tucson, AZ. One never knows where the paths will take you in life. Just remember it’s the memories and adventures that will stay with you so buckle up as they say and enjoy it all. Tell me the last time you went on an adventure and how it turned out, both good and bad in the comments below.