Walker Ranch sold and permanently closed to rockhounds.

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Bad news for Texas rockhounds. There is no more Walker Ranch. Enough members of the family got together to force a sale. It now belongs to the Wood family who bought the Woodward Ranch. They have a bad feeling for rockhunters because a lot of people didn’t know the Woodward had closed and they were chasing trespassers off the ranch for months after they bought it.
However, the Walker wasn’t the only site available for hunting red plume agate, peanut agate and the other great varieties of agate that the area is known for. The South Larremore Ranch has ‘float’ agate from the mountains to the north of it in the whole Calamity Creek watershed.
 
I’m preparing my Fall schedule now and hope to have it posted in a week or two.

2018 March and April Rockhunts

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Hi y’all!  It’s been one heck of a winter, and I’m only now crawling out from under the mound of paperwork (22 years’ worth) that had to be sorted and organized for our taxes this year.

Below is the schedule for the spring, starting with the Gem Show week of March 25 – April 1.    I intend to have some rockhunts the first week in May, but that schedule will have to come later.

Also, the Stillwell Ranch is up for sale.  As we know what may happen to rockhunting opportunities once a ranch sells, I would suggest visiting that wonderful spot this spring, in case it becomes unavailable in the future.

To sign up for the field trips, send me an email.  HOWEVER, I will be involved in family business and out of email range and won’t be able to reply until about the 23rd of March.  If I have access to email earlier than that I’ll certainly get back to you.  But if the information isn’t in this email or on my website, you may have to wait until the 23rd to find out.

Remember that you need to be a member of the Rollin’ Rock Club to go on my trips.  Memberships are $16 per year dual and $10 per year single, payable at the time of your first field trip.

Regards,

Teri

 

Sunday 3/25:  Ritchie Ranch, 9 a.m.  $10 per person and $1 per lb. of agate
Monday, 3/26 Stillwell Ranch, 8 a.m.  50 cents per lb of rock you take.
Friday, 3/30  South Larremore Ranch, 8 a.m.  $50 per person
Saturday, 3/31  Stillwell Ranch, 8 a.m.    50 cents per lb of rock you take.
Sunday, 4/1  East Needle Peak, 8 a.m.  $40 per person
Thursday, 4/5 Ritchie Ranch, 9 a.m.    $10 per person and $1 per lb. of agate
Friday, 4/6 East Needle Peak, 8 a.m.  $40 per person
Saturday, 4/7 South Larremore Ranch, 8 a.m.  $50 per person
Sunday, 4/9  Stillwell Ranch, 8 a.m.    50 cents per lb of rock you take.
Thursday, 4/19  Ritchie Ranch, 9 a.m.    $10 per person and $1 per lb. of agate
Friday, 4/20 South Larremore Ranch, 8 a.m.  $50 per person
Saturday, 4/21 East Needle Peak, 8 a.m.  $40 per person
Sunday, 4/22 Stillwell Ranch, 8 a.m.    50 cents per lb of rock you take.
Friday, 4/27 South Larremore Ranch, 8 a.m.  $50 per person
Saturday, 4/28, East Needle Peak, 8 a.m.  $40 per person
Sunday, 4/29 Stillwell Ranch, 8 a.m.    50 cents per lb of rock you take.

 

 

 

 

 

And the January 2018 Rockhunt Schedule is… Blank.

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Happy Holidays to all my rockhound friends!  As many of you know, John and I sold the Antelope Lodge, effective December 18th.

We’ve owned the lodge for the 22 years we’ve been in Alpine.  We basically raised the kids there, and most of our friends are former employees or guests.  We customized the Lodge so it looked and ran like we wanted it to.

So the first thing I need to do in 2018 is to remove my shop and museum from the Lodge, and clean up and out all my personal stuff that’s out there, so that the new owners can mold the Lodge so it matches their vision of it.  And there are things we need to do in order to close the books for the business, as well.

I’ve been trying to come up with a rockhunt schedule for January and February that will allow me to get done what I need to do an the Lodge, and lead rockhunts as well, and I just can’t figure out how I can do it.  Even with help (our son Austin on his break from college, and some friends, plus a bit of hired muscle), it’s probably going to take me being out at the Lodge every day in order to get this done by the deadline set in the purchase agreement.

So, for January and the first half of February, I’m not scheduling any rockhunts at all.  I’m sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone.  After the middle of February, when my contractual obligations are completed, I hope to be able to finish the rockhunting season as usual, with a couple of weekends a month given over to hunts.

But there are a couple of other options for rockhunts here that are still going strong:  Jean Larremore and her cousin Tommy Vick can lead hunts to the South Larremore Ranch upon occasion, and you can go to the Stillwell Ranch and hunt without a guide.

For the Larremore Ranch, email me and I’ll work with Jean to set up dates based on your availability, starting on January 5th.

The Stillwell Ranch is open 7 days a week, but just to be sure I’d suggest you call them the day before you plan to go at (432) 376-2244.   There’s plenty of area to hunt in and lots of good stuff to find, and it’s only 50 cents per pound for what you take with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Teri

Smiths sell the Antelope Lodge!

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John & Teri Smith wish to announce that we’ve sold the Antelope Lodge as of today, and that it will be under new management as of tomorrow. Many thanks to all our guests and friends for 22 great years!

My rockhunts will continue as before, meeting in front of the Antelope Lodge office. However, I won’t have a key to the office, and my museum and shop will be closed for the time being.  So we’ll have to find a restroom to use someplace else!

Stay tuned!

Ritchie Ranch (12/8) & South Larremore (12/9) hunts cancelled.

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No one has signed up for the Ritchie Ranch rockhunt tomorrow, or the South Larremore Ranch rockhunt this Saturday, 12/9/17, so I’ve cancelled the hunts.  It’s also snowing, with about a 5″ accumulation so far, so we wouldn’t be able to see the rocks on the ground anyhow.

Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the weather in Terlingua and see if we can still try for East Needle Peak on Sunday.  I’ll post my information here.