Trip Report, October 2013 field trips.
The October 2013 field trips were a great success, and I have now recovered enough that I can write a report about the fantastic trips we had.
First, we went to East Needle Peak for two days. It was quite warm down there, but rains during the summer had unearthed some new material. Besides agate, there were fossil shark teeth and bones, and selenite and calcite specimens found. I found a cool piece of agate after aragonite, which looks like it has some barite on it, too.
The five days of the Walker Ranch hunt were fantastic! The weather was just on the warm side of perfect. Again, the summer rains had revealed some new material. The road to the west of the camping area had been regarded, and the west side of the Bird Hills were much more accessible. Lots of great agate, specimens, and labradorite were picked up. On the busiest day, Saturday, there were more than 30 hunters on the ranch, but it wasn’t crowded.
As usual, we had our Sunday evening barbecue, thanks to Johnny French and the Antelope Lodge’s super chef, Brenda Condra.
On Monday, there was a small hunt at the Ritchie Ranch. 200 lbs of good agate were found by one person! The Tuesday Ritchie Ranch hunt was cancelled due to rain, which has been forecast for the previous week, but waited until the last hunting day to wet everything down!
The next hunt is scheduled for the weekend of the 2014 Alpine Gem Show. There dates will most likely be:
Monday, April 14 and Tuesday, April 15: East Needle Peak
Wednesday, April 16 through Sunday, April 20: Walker Ranch
Monday, April 21 and Tuesday, April 22: Ritchie Ranch
Sunday the 20th is also Easter Sunday.
Of course all of this is still tentative. We need 20 people for the Walker Ranch trip, as usual. I’ll send out another email at the end of February to get sign-ups. I’d love to hear from you sooner if you know you want to attend.
And remember that you can always schedule hunts with me for the Ritchie Ranch and East Needle Peak whenever you’d like them!
Regards,
Teri