All Rockhunts in March and April CANCELLED.

The remaining rockhunts for March and April, 2020, have been cancelled because of the public health directives issued by the Brewster County Judge.

The County Judge in Brewster County, TX (location of all three ranches that I lead field trips on) has expanded the recent Disaster Declaration to include the closure of restaurants, bars, hotels, motels, RV Parks and campgrounds.  Since these necessary services for rockhounds won’t be available, it seemed prudent to cancel the remaining rockhunts for the season at this point.  I had hoped we could avoid this, and if the restrictions are lifted in time, we can reinstate whatever rockhunts are remaining.

I will keep you posted about changes to the existing Declarations.  In the meantime I’m still selling rock buckets.  An inventory of the buckets for sale can be found at http://terismithrockhunts.com/rocks-for-sale/.

For those of you who have at least one bucket of rock reserved in your name, I’m still looking for the least expensive method of shipping the buckets to you.  Will let you know when I find it!

Regards,

Teri Smith

P.S.  If you have a hotel reservation here, you’ve probably heard from your hotel already.  If not, I’d consider calling them.

I’ll Be In Transit This Week

Hi Y’all I’ll be in transit from California to Texas this week, so I won’t be returning emails. I should be back in Texas by the weekend and will try to catch up on them then. I also won’t be accepting calls when I’m driving, since I really want to get back to Texas alive.

Regards,

Teri

Woodward Needle Peak site Closed for Rockhunting.

Due to factors way beyond our control, there has been another location closed for collecting this spring.. In late February, there were some communication gaps that led to confusion about who was allowed to go where down near Needle Peak.   To ensure that something like that didn’t happen again, Aaron went down to the Brewster County Tax Office and looked up who owns what down at Needle Peak.   He found that the official record at the courthouse did not agree with Jan Woodward’s understanding of what she owns at Needle Peak. 

In order to clarify this, deeds will need to be examined and surveys conducted, and legal proceedings may be necessary. I have been told by someone schooled in the law that the county records are not infallible, and that sometimes deeds are not recorded, for a variety of reasons.

But all of this will take time to untangle.  So, due to these ownership issues, all of Aaron’s rockhunts for spring at the Woodward’s Needle Peak site have been cancelled.

We know that his is a great disappointment for many, including ourselves.  To have this traditional rockhunting area available again was very welcome and had generated a lot of signups from people who will now have to decide what they are going to do.

THIS DOESN’T AFFECT THE EAST NEEDLE PEAK ROCKHUNTS THAT TERI LEADS. Below is a new schedule without the Needle Peak hunts of Aaron’s. If it is at all possible to do something different on the days when hunts had been scheduled to the Woodward’s portion of Needle peak, such as hunt on the roads in Toyah or on Hovey Road, between Alpine and Ft. Stockton, we can certainly do that.  Please let us know what you would like to do on those days, and we’ll see if we can do that.  Aaron has at least one other ranch that has expressed interest in rockhunting, but he’s going to keep quiet about it until it happens. He sincerely apologizes concerning the problem with the Woodward property.  This is his first year of leading fieldtrips, and he is finding out how difficult the vetting process for a landowner can be.

Despite the loss of the Woodward’s Needle Peak site, there are still three wonderful ranches available for rockhunting this season:  the Ritchie Ranch, South Larremore Ranch and East Needle Peak.  None of the hunts for those ranches has changed. 

We look forward to seeing you this Spring!

Teri & Aaron

P.S.  I now have my whole rock collection inventoried and available for purchase.  It is listed on my website, at http://terismithrockhunts.com/rocks-for-sale/.  However, I still intend to publish it as an email in the next few days.  It’s first come, first served, so take a look and let me know what you want!

Date Location Leader Cost Start Time Requirements
Sat. 3/7  
Sun. 3/8 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 3/14 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun.3/15  
Mon. 3/16 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Tue. 3/17 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Wed 3/18 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Thu 3/19 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Fri 3/20 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 3/21  
Sun. 3/22  
Mon. 3/23 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Tue. 3/24 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Wed 3/25 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Thu 3/26 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 3/27 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Sat. 3/28  
Sun. 3/29  
Thurs  4/2 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/3 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/4 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/5  
Mon 4/6 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/9 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/10 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/11 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/12  
Mon 4/13 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/16 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/17 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/18  
Sun. 4/19 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Mon 4/20 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/21 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/24 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/25 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $65 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/26  
Mon 4/27 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check