Steins,
NM to Summit, NM
Hidalgo
County
Steins
Road (CR A012)
Chalcedony
and Jasper
|
[2005]
Steins Road to Summit,
NM
(25 Miles of
dirt roads!)
This
was the first full day after our group moved to Lordsburg, NM from
Wickenburg,
AZ. Everybody was busy doing laundry, getting groceries, or
resting
so I led another in our group out the Steins road to Summit, NM to see
what we could find. We had wanted to go up into the mountains
but
some of the locals had convinced us that it would be too dangerous
considering
the recent rains and the current prediction of storms at higher
elevations.
Look at the above picture - doesn't look like storms to me!
It
turned
out to be a great day for looking but we didn't find much except some
small
chalcedony roses and large chunks of a brown speckled jasper.
We
had been told that we could find some fire agate out about 15 miles
down
this road. None found on this trip!
|
[2005]
Beautiful
scenery
. . .
|
[2005]
Collecting chalcedony along Steins Road. . .
|
[2005]
Desert Views...
|
| SPECIMEN
PICTURE(S) TO FOLLOW. . . |
Red
Rock, NM
Ash
Creek Ricalite
Grant
County
Ricolite
(a rare variety of banded serpentines)
|
[2005]
Parking at
Red
Rock. . .
The
cliffs in the background of this picture is the local landmark to look
for when approaching this location. Because of recent heavy
rains
in the mountains, we were forced to select collecting locations that we
wouldn't get stuck getting in to or out of! The Red Rock area
afforded
our group with this ease of access and paved roads to within several
miles
from our parking area.
We
actually made two trips to this stream: one pictured in the following
photos
and one a few days later when the stream was just about dry.
This
latter trip was the most successful since we could cover both sides of
Ash creek and the stream bed. |
Ash Creek -
looking
Northwest
(THE
STREAM THAT NEVER HAS WATER IN IT?!)
|
[2005]
Ash Creek-
looking
Southeast
(THE
STREAM THAT NEVER HAS WATER IN IT?!)
Either
you climbed the hill along the banks to get to a wider area along the
stream
or you got your feet wet. I hitched a ride this day and
didn't
bring
my rubber boots which were still in the back of my SUV parked at the
rock
shop in Lordsburg.
|
[2005]
The sun
came
out from behind the rain clouds and lit up the banks. . .
|
[2005]
That's what
we're
looking for. . . Ricolite
|
[2005]
Larger
pieces
of Ricolite and green serpentine.
The
banding in
the Ricolite comes in many colors but those with shades of green with
some
gray to white banding are most predominant. This material is
mostly
of a uniform fine-grained hardness which makes for some great cabbing
or
carving rock. We often see Ricolite in
contemporary
Zuni
carvings.
|
Ricolite Sphere - Judy and Bill
Ruddock
collection.
|
[2005]
Fence
across
Ash Creek denotes private boundary.
There
is actually a wide area to cover between the bank on the left of this
picture
and the distant ridge to the right and out of view. Like most
of
southern New Mexico, the ground is made up of a covering of loose rocks
of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Almost all of the time it
would
pay to bring a spray bottle and extra water to expose the true color of
the rocks that you will find here. This year it was truly
different
with a small stream and puddles remaining after the latest
storm.
Upon our return visit after the stream had subsided we noticed that
someone
had already been ahead of us as we saw several holes remaining after
small
Ricolite boulders had been removed.
|
