Here is the list I currently have of rockhounds attending the 6-day Walker
Ranch rockhunt:  Payments reflect everything I’ve received to date.

Allen, Randy:  2 people, 2 days, $150 paid.
Blansett, Mike:  1 person, 2 days, not paid.
Cantou, Pierre:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
David, Ken:  2 people, 1 day, not paid.
Durning, Matt:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
Ellis, Joe:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
French, Johnny:  1 person, 6 days, $220 paid.
Foegelle, Thomas & Bobbie :  2 people, 3 days, payment en route.
Harmsen, Danny:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
Huizinga, Brad:  2 people, 2 days, not paid.
Jordan, Ray & Martha:  2 people, 3 days, $300 paid.
Kosnick, Rob:  1 person, 3 days, not paid.
Lepine, Geof:  3 people, 4 days, not paid.
Molina, Gilbert:  1 person, 3 days, $75 paid.
Moore, Rodney:  2 people, ? Days, not paid.
Mounce, JoAnn & Kevin:  2 people, 6 days, 440 paid.
Rivet, Ken & Sandy:  2 people, 5 days, $225 paid.
Roberts, Terry:  1 person, 6 days, $220 paid.
Rupp, Ted & Janet:  2 people, 3 days, $300 paid.
Smith, Troy:  2 people, 3 days, $300 paid.
Sorenson, Jim & Carmen:  2 people, 6 days, $220 paid.
Spencer, Al:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
Stroud, La Donna:  1 person, 6 days, $220 paid.
Tindell, Ed:  1 person, 6 days, $220 paid.
Tirey-Butler, Lisa:  1 person, 4 days, $150 paid.
Waugh, Steve:  1 person, 3 days, $150 paid.
Welch, Bob:  1 person, 3 days, $75 paid.
Wilkerson, Kenneth:  1 person, 6 days, $220 paid.

It’s certainly not too late to decide to come to Alpine for the wonderful rockhunts scheduled during April.  The schedule is available on my website, www.terismithrockhunts.com, or I can send it to you by email if you request it.  Then just email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net to tell me you want to come.

For those that have not paid: Please don’t make your check out to me.  If you do, I’ll have to return it and ask for one made out to Bryan Crumpton.  Since I don’t make any money from the rockhunts, my accountant has advised me not to deposit any checks from rockhunters into my own accounts, as that will cause the IRS to believe that I make money from the hunts.

On the first day that you’re hunting, meet me at 8 a.m. at the Antelope Lodge to sign release forms, and make any additional payments necessary.   Then we’ll go to the ranch as a group.  I’ll give you the combination and show you how to work the lock, then take you to the camping area where you can listen to me tell you how to find the agate and where most of it is.  Then you can come and go on your own.

Remember also that there are great hunts both before and after the Walker Ranch hunt:  The Singleton Ranch, East Needle Peak and the roads of Reeves County.  Look on my website for further information about those hunts!

See you in a month!

Teri

Please consider making the Antelope Lodge your headquarters during your stay in
Alpine.  My husband and I have owned the Lodge since 1995.  The Lodge is a
restored 1940s motor court, with cottages spaced out over two acres.  The rooms
are not huge, but each one has a kitchenette so you can cook or microwave your
breakfast and snacks, and avoid the rush at the restaurants.  There’s a stone
porch out front of each room, with chairs for you to relax on, and a central
courtyard with grass, picnic tables, barbecues, and a hose to wash off your
rocks with!  If you’re coming out to West Texas to enjoy rockhunting in the
great outdoors, the Lodge is the perfect place to stay!

All the field trips start from the Lodge, and the great Rockhound Barbecue on Sunday, April 20th will be in the courtyard at the Lodge.  As most of you know, I don’t get
paid for leading field trips, and the more rockhounds that stay at the Lodge,
the easier it will be for me to convince my family that I should keep doing the
two-week-long rockhunting extravaganzas I’ve started with this April’s hunts.
You can make reservations at www.antelopelodge.com, or by calling
(800) 880-8106 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Thanks!
Teri

t’s certainly not too late to decide to come to Alpine for the wonderful rockhunts scheduled during April.  The schedule is available on my website, www.terismithrockhunts.com, or I can send it to you by email if you request it.  Then just email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net to tell me you want to come.

Here is the list I currently have of rockhounds attending the 6-day Walker Ranch rockhunt:

Blansett, Mike:  1 person, 2 days, not paid.

Cantou, Pierre:  1 person, 3 days, paid in full.

David, Ken:  1 person, 1 day, not paid.

Foegelle, Thomas & Bobbie:  2 people, 3 days, not paid.

French, Johnny:  1 person, 6 days, paid in full.

Harmsen, Danny:  1 person, 3 days, paid in full.

Huizinga, Brad: 2 people for 2 days, not paid.

Lepine, Geof:  3 people, 4 days, not paid.

Molina, Gilbert:  1 person, 3 days, $75 deposit paid.

Rivet, Ken & Sandy:  2 people, 2 days, not paid.

Roberts, Terry:  1 person, ? days, not paid.

Rupp, Ted:  2 people, 3 days, paid in full.

Smith, Troy & Lenora:  2 people, 3 days, paid in full.

Tindell, Ed:  1 person, 6 days, paid in full.

Tirey-Butler, Lisa:  1 person, 4 days, paid in full.

Waugh, Steve:  1 person, 3 days, paid in full.

Welch, Bob:  1 person, 3 days, not paid.

Wilkerson, Kenneth:  1 person, 6 days, not paid.

For those who have not sent in their deposit, remember that if you send the whole amount, rather than just the half required for a deposit, by next Thursday, March 20, you will get to hunt on Monday, April 21 for free!!

Send the deposit/whole amount in a check made out to Bryan Crumpton, to Teri Smith at 509 N. 8^th Street, Alpine, TX  79830.

And for those coming to town early, the rockhunt for Monday, April 14 has been set:  Johnny French will take a bunch of us to hunt for Balmorhea Blue agate on the edges of the county roads near Toyah in Reeves County.  As we will be hunting on the roads, the hunt is free.  We’ll meet at the Antelope Lodge in Alpine at 8 a.m.

I look forward to seeing y’all here for a great set of rockhunts!

Regards,

Teri

For our April, 2014, rockhunts, it looks like it will be a wonderful-and tiring
– couple of weeks.   HOWEVER, THERE ARE ONLY ABOUT A DOZEN PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR
THE WALKER RANCH HUNT, and we need 20 to make the hunt go.  SO, please let me
know if you are coming so that we can meet our quota!  Some of those who have
signed up still need to send in their deposit.  Make a check for half the fee
out to Bryan Crumpton, and send it to Teri Smith, 509 N. 8th Street, Alpine, TX
79830.  OR, if you wish to hunt on Monday, April 21, for free, send the whole
amount for your fee to me by March 20.  In my next email,  I’ll include the list
of signups.

I’ve put up the schedule on my website, but just to make it
easy, here it is:

Thursday, April 10, through
Sunday, April 13
Singleton Ranch Cost $50 per person for entrance fee and 1- 5 gallon bucket full
of agate.  Additional buckets of agate are $40 each.  Agate types include
bouquet, which is plume in pastel colors; black plume; fortification; moss; and
waterline banded.  Specimens of agate, quartz crystals, calcite, and other
minerals can also be found.
Monday, April 14 To Be Determined There may be
a neat field trip happening this day.  Will let you know ASAP.
Tuesday, April
15 East Needle Peak Cost $40 per person for entrance fee and the rocks you pick
up.  Agate and jasper types include lots of moss agates, pompom, fortification,
banded and plume. You can also find agatized wood, quartz crystals, calcite,
aragonite, selenite, and many types of fossils, including shark’s teeth and
ammonites.
Wednesday, April 16, through  Monday April 21 Walker Ranch Cost
is $75 per person per day during the first three days of your hunt, with the
third day free.  Since this is a 6-day hunt, days 4 -6 are $35 each, unless you
pay the full fee before March 20, 2014, in which case Monday 4/21 will be FREE.
On the first day of your hunt, meet me at the Antelope Lodge lobby at 8:00
a.m.
Tuesday, April 22 Teri’s Day Off!! There are several local rockshops to
visit, or you can rockhunt go to the Stillwell Ranch.  If you’re really bored,
you can help me with my chores!
Wednesday, April 23 East Needle Peak Cost $40
per person for entrance fee and the rocks you pick up.  Agate and jasper types
include lots of moss agates, pompom, fortification, banded and plume. You can
also find agatized wood, quartz crystals, calcite, aragonite, selenite, and many
types of fossils, including shark’s teeth and ammonites.
Thursday, April
24, through Monday, April 27 Singleton Ranch Cost $50 per person for entrance
fee and 1- 5 gallon bucket full of agate.  Additional buckets of agate are $40
each.  Agate types include bouquet, which is plume in pastel colors; black
plume; fortification; moss; and waterline banded.  Specimens of agate, quartz
crystals, calcite, and other minerals can also be found.

Remember that
membership in the Rolllin’ Rock Club is required for all my field trips.  The
cost is $10 for a single membership, and $16 for a dual membership for the year
2014.

In other news, the west side of the Woodward Ranch has been sold.
The east side of the ranch is still for sale, as is the Needle Peak location
belonging to the Woodward family.

But the other great ranch that’s been
open to individuals for rockhunting for many years is still open:  the Stillwell
Ranch.    It’s located south of Marathon.  Take Highway 385 south from Marathon
and turn left at Ranch Road 2627.  The Stillwell RV park and store will be on
the right a few miles down.  They do not charge an “admission fee”, and the rock
is 50 cents per pound.  The problem is that there’s no guide, and no one to help
you highgrade the rocks you find.  If you know what agate looks like here in the
Big Bend, you can do very well there.   If you don’t know what the local agate
looks like, please check out my museum of rocks & gems of the Big Bend. It’s
located in the lobby of the Antelope Lodge at 2310 W. Highway 90, Alpine.  It’s
open whenever the Lodge office is open. — usually 9  a.m. to 9
p.m.

Regards,
Teri