Great Agate Still Available for Purchase

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Teri Smith

Maybe there will be some pieces like this red and black plume agate from the South Larremore Ranch in the box(es) I send you!

The spring rockhunting season has been quite good, with many lovely cutting agate pieces found on all 3 ranches I lead trips on. The most surprising finds have been fortification agates with unusual colors from the Ritchie Ranch. With just a couple of exceptions, I’m finished with leading field trips for the spring. It’s been warm to hot on the ranches, and of course the farther south you go the hotter it gets. Even if it’s too hot for rockhunting out in West Texas, you can still buy great rough agate from me to cut and polish all summer in your ocean-front condo, air-conditioned treehouse, houseboat on the lake, or the back porch and garage.

I’m still selling some of the best agates from my collection in the ½ bucket size, or approx. 2.5 gallons. This is enough agate to completely fill a USPS large sized priority box. It should weigh between 25 and 35 pounds, depending upon the sizes and shapes of the stones included.

These boxes of agate will contain all cutting and tumbling pieces, with the specimen pieces removed. You can specify tumbling or cutting and I’ll try to get you the right sizes for your projects. Quantities are limited, so order now. I’ll be leaving for California in mid-May, so if you haven’t ordered by then, you won’t get your rocks til Fall.

Walker Ranch $150 plus $25 shipping. May contain the following types of agate: red plume, black plume, flower garden, peanut, moss, fortification banded, tube, lace, and mixtures of those types. The agate occurs in many different bright colors, from red and yellow to purple and green. The Walker Ranch has been closed to hunting for many years now. I gather the material for each bucket and half-bucket when it’s ordered, so it may take a few days for me to fill your request. Eventually I’ll run out of the good stuff, and after that there will be no more available.

Singleton Ranch $150 plus $25 shipping. May contain the following types of agate: bouquet (plume agate in pastel colors), black plume, moss, water-level banded, fortification banded, brecciated opal (common, opaque opal in beiges, pinks and oranges, in a translucent background of black, blue, or white agate), and mixtures of those types. The agate occurs in many different pastel colors, from pink and yellow to white and green. The Singleton Ranch has been closed to hunting for many years now.

South Larremore Ranch $110 plus $25 shipping. May contain the following types of agate: plume in various colors, moss, peanut, tube, flower garden, fortification (some with bands so close together that they can exhibit an iris effect when sliced thin), and petrified wood. The agate occurs in many bright colors and some pastel colors as well. The South Larremore Ranch is currently open for guided rockhunts that I lead in the Fall and Spring.

East Needle Peak $110 plus $25 shipping. May contain the following types of agate: PomPom (a rare pseudomorph of agate after aragonite), moss, peanut, fortification, banded, tube, lace, and agatized petrified wood. The agate occurs in many colors, but much of it is red, orange, or yellow, occasionally with areas of green. East Needle Peak is currently open for guided rockhunts that I lead in the Fall and Spring.

Ritchie Ranch $60 plus $25 shipping. May contain the following types of agate: Moss, banded, fortification, tube, plume, translucent chalcedony, and a lovely unnamed type of agate that has irregular blobs of opaque agate in a translucent background. The agate grew in two different occurrences, each with its characteristic color sets: translucent chalcedony in blues, greys, and carnelian, and a more opaque, complexly patterned agate and jasper in bright red, orange, and yellow. The Ritchie Ranch is currently open for guided rockhunts that I lead in the Fall and Spring.

Labradorite from the Walker Ranch. This labradorite is not like the specimens you see where the background of blue and grey has a chatoyance or cat’s-eye effect. At its best, Walker Ranch labradorite is bright yellow and almost transparent. It’s great for faceting and makes cool specimens. I’m selling it in 100 gram parcels for $25.00. Not all of the pieces are the same size, however, and those who order earlier will get the parcels with the bigger pieces in them. Shipping is $10, which seems awfully expensive, but you can ship several parcels in one small flat-rate box.

I will still also have full buckets for sale, and a few additional categories of cutting agate and specimens. I will be keeping my website current as to what’s available. You can find that information at http://terismithrockhunts.com/rocks-for-sale/.

You can order from me via phone, email or text. I will take checks, PayPal and Zelle for distance payments, and cash also for purchases when you’re here in Alpine. Twice a year I drive from Texas to California and back, so if you’re near I-10 in West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and parts of California, I can possibly deliver rocks to you if it works with your schedule.

Phone and text number: (432) 386-3431

Email: agatehunter@sbcglobal.net

Regards,

Teri

Spring 2024 Rockhunts Start SOOOOON

Posted on February 12, 2024 by Teri Smith

Hi y’all! Spring rockhunting season is here, and it’s time to round up the rock bags and oil up the wheelbarrow for some great rockhunting adventures.

This Spring my schedule will be more flexible than it has been in the recent past. Aaron Thomas has said he’s not leading field trips this spring, so I have no reason to just schedule hunts for Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays. I’ve waited til now to send out my schedule because I’ve been trying to make contact with the 06 Ranch to see whether anyone else would be leading hunts on the 06 this Spring, but I haven’t been successful, so I’m assuming that there will be no hunts there at all. If that changes, I’ll let you know ASAP.

Instead of scheduling rockhunts now and hoping those days work for rockhounds, I’ll tell you when I can lead rockhunts, and you pick the days that work best for you and let me know. It only takes one person to sign up for a rockhunt to happen, and I love to go on rockhunts, so I will be glad to lead a trip for one person. And if you’ve got a group, so much the better. I’ve had up to 30 people with me on hunts, and everyone had a good time and found great rocks!

I’ll still be leading rockhunts on the Ritchie Ranch, the South Larremore Ranch, and East Needle Peak. Jean and Bryan Larremore will also be leading trips to the South Larremore Ranch when they can.

For further information on the ranches I lead rockhunts on, and what you’ll need to do to prepare, follow this link: http://terismithrockhunts.com/for-rockhunters/ To sign up for one of my rockhunts, send me an email at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net or text me at (432) 386-3431. Please include a phone number so I can call you if necessary. I’d prefer not to have you call me because I’m forgetful, and having a text or email that I can refer to will ensure I remember the right dates and other information.

The only requirement for my hunts in addition to the fees stated below is that you need to join the Rollin’ Rock Club. This club costs $10 per year for a single membership ($16 dual membership), and provides insurance that protects the landowner from any damage we may accidentally cause.

So without further ado, here’s my schedule:

Green= Ought to be available
Yellow=Probably not available, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Once again, the hunts will begin highway 118 south.in the parking lot of Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine, at the corner of Holland Avenue and Highway 118 south.

East Needle Peak	S. Larremore Ranch	Ritchie Ranch
Meets at 8 am in the parking lot of Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine	Meets at 8 am in the parking lot of Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine	Meets at 9 am in the parking lot of Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Cost: $50 per day. First bucket of rocks you collect is included in cost.	Cost: $60 per day. First bucket of rocks you collect is included in cost.	Cost: $20 entrance fee and $1 per lb for cutting material and crystals.
Leader: Teri Smith (432) 386-3431	Leader: Teri Smith (432) 386-3431	Leader: Teri Smith (432) 386-3431

Regards,
Teri

P.S. I’ve still got great rocks for sale. I‘ll be cataloging what I’ve got starting next week when I’m back in Texas, and I’ll send out an email about that as soon as I have an idea what I have.

Rock Sales Update: Half-Buckets and Full Buckets

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Teri Smith

As we head toward cooler weather and the holidays, it’s time to think about getting enough good rough agate to cut when the weather is too cold for rockhunting. I have a number of ways to help you solve that problem.

I’ll be selling some of the best agates from my collection in the smaller size of ½ bucket, or approx. 2.5 gallons. This is enough agate to completely fill a USPS large sized priority box. It should weigh between 25 and 35 pounds, depending upon the sizes and shapes of the stones included. These are great for yourself or for holiday gifts for other rockhounds in your life

These boxes of agate will contain all cutting and tumbling pieces, with the specimen pieces removed. You can specify tumbling or cutting and I’ll try to get you the right sizes for your projects. Quantities are limited, so order now. I’ll be leaving for California in mid-December, so if you haven’t ordered by then, you won’t get your rocks for Christmas.

You can order from me via phone, email or text. I will take checks, PayPal and Zelle for distance payments, and cash also for purchases when you’re here in Alpine. Twice a year I drive from Texas to California and back, so if you’re near I-10, I can possibly deliver rocks to you if it works with your schedule.

Fall 2023 Rockhunts

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Teri Smith

October has brought some cooler weather to the Big Bend of Texas, so it’s time to come out and join rockhunts to have fun and find some beautiful agate, jasper, amethyst, quartz crystals, and other specimens.

I am leading rockhunting field trips on The Ritchie Ranch, the South Larremore Ranch and East Needle Peak, and Aaron Thomas is leading them on the 06 Ranch. There are enough different locations for you to go for five days in a row and not be at any one place for more than a day.

Below is the schedule of rockhunts, and some information about costs and meeting locations. For further information on the ranches I lead rockhunts on, and what you’ll need to do to prepare, follow this link: http://terismithrockhunts.com/for-rockhunters/ To sign up for one of my rockhunts, send me an email at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net. The only requirement for my hunts in addition to the fees stated below is that you need to join the Rollin’. Rock Club. This club costs $10 per year for a single membership ($16 dual membership), and provides insurance that protects the landowner from any damage we may accidentally cause.

For information about Aaron’s hunts, search for him on Facebook, or email or text him at aaronthomasrockhunts@gmail.com, or (432) 538-2399.

I also still have lots of wonderful agate for sale. I’ll give you more details on that in a separate email which should come out in the next few days.

Regards,

Teri

Spring 2023 Rockhunts

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Teri Smith

Hi Y’all! Below is my complete rockhunting schedule for the Spring of 2023. I’ve included all the hunts I know about in the Big Bend, including those led by Aaron Thomas and Jean Larremore, through May 1. Both Aaron and Jean are leading hunts in May, but I stopped my calendar at the end of my hunts in order to get it out sooner…
Aaron, Jean and I work independently of each other. Each of us will be booking our own trips. Contact information for all of us is here:
Teri Smith’s rockhunts: email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net or teri@terismithrockhunts.com. If no one has signed up for a rockhunt 48 hours before it’s to start, I will cancel the hunt and make other plans. Hunt cancellation notices will be put up on my website, www.terismithrockhunts.com, and sent out to my email list. But if even just one person signs up, the rockhunt will happen. My rockhunts also require you to join the Rollin’ Rock Club once a year. The cost ($10 per person or $16 per couple) covers you for the entire year. This provides insurance that protects the landowner in case we damage something.

Aaron Thomas’ rockhunts: email him at texastakeahike@gmail.com, or visit the website www.takeahiketexas.com

Jean Larremore’s rockhunts: email her at jeanlarremore@yahoo.com, or through Facebook messenger. Please make your reservation with her at least 2 or 3 days before the rockhunt.

For all hunts, you’ll need to bring along lots of drinking water (1/2 liter per hour on hot days) and lunch. You’ll need to wear desert-savvy clothes, including boots, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, work gloves, and a hat. Having bags or a bucket to put your rocks in is a very good idea. And sunscreen is essential.

I hope to see y’all out here this spring!
Regards,
Teri

P.S. I have lots of rocks for sale, too. I’ve lowered the prices on many types of agate and specimens. And of course I can mail the rocks to you very easily!

Color key for table below:

06 Ranch

Boxcar Ranch

East Needle Peak

S.Larremore Ranch

Ritchie Ranch

Gem Show

Date	Location	Leader	Cost	Start Time	Requirements
Sat. 2/25	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 2/25	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 2/26	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, $1 – $3 per lb. and	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Wed. 3/1	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 3/2	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 3/3	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 3/ 4	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite 605 E Holland, Alpine
Sat. 3/4	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 3/5	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 3/6	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 3/8	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 3/9	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 3/10	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 3/11	06 Ranch Camping	Aaron	$220 per person, And $1 – $3 per lb	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 3/11	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 3/12	06 Ranch Camping	Aaron	See listing for Saturday, 3/11
Mon. 3/13	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 3/15	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 3/16	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 3/17	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 3/ 18	Boxcar Ranch	Aaron	$100 entrance, $2 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 3/18	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 3/19	South Larremore Ranch	Aaron	$65 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 3/20	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 3/22	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 3/23	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 3/24	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 3/ 25	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 3/25	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 3/26	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 3/27	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 3/29	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 3/30	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 3/31	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 4/1	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 4/1	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 4/2	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 4/3	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 4/5	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 4/6	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 4/7	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 4/8	Boxcar Ranch	Aaron	$100 entrance, $2 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 4/8	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 4/9	South Larremore Ranch	Aaron	$65 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 4/10	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 4/12	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 4/13	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 4/14	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 4/14	Alpine Gem Show
Sat. 4/ 15	Alpine Gem Show
Sat. 4/15	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 4/16	Alpine Gem Show
Mon. 4/17	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 4/19	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 4/20	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 4/21	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 4/ 22	06 Ranch Camping	Aaron	$220 per person, And $1 – $3 per lb	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 4/22	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 4/23	06 Ranch Camping	Aaron	See listing for Saturday, 4/22
Mon. 4/24	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Wed. 4/26	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Thu. 4/27	Ritchie Ranch	Teri	$20 entrance & $1 per lb	9 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Fri. 4/28	East Needle Peak	Teri	$50 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sat. 4/ 29	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Sat. 4/29	South Larremore Ranch	Jean	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine
Sun. 4/30	06 Ranch	Aaron	$60 entrance, and $1 – $3 per lb.	8 a.m.	Tri-La-Bite food truck in Alpine
Mon. 5/1	South Larremore Ranch	Teri	$60 entrance & 1 full bucket	8 a.m.	Little Caesar’s Pizza in Alpine

2022 and 2023 Rockhunt Schedules

Posted on November 5, 2022 by Teri Smith

My apologies to everyone for not emailing you sooner concerning rockhunts this fall and winter. I’ve been working on several projects, which are, of course, proceeding more slowly than I had planned. For the last few months I’ve been waiting for an appointment that will finally happen at the end of this month. After that there will need to be more appointments, each with a number of variables which can go wrong, thus pushing back schedules even farther.

I was going to wait to send this email until I had something solid to tell you about my rockhunt schedule, and what I have is a lot of conjecture and an inability to plan a schedule for fall and winter.

So the only thing ‘solid’ in my schedule is that I won’t be leading rockhunts this fall, and probably not this winter, either. Unless things change materially, however, I will be leading rockhunts next March and April.

Aaron Thomas and Jean Larremore are leading hunts in the Big Bend region this Fall and winter. You can get ahold of them through the Facebook group “Texas Rockhounds” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/775245782823113). You can PM them on Facebook and get an answer fairly quickly. I recommend them highly. You’ll have a great time and find great rocks whenever you go with them.

I miss seeing y’all back there, and I hope to see a lot of you when I’m there in the Spring. As I’ve done in the past few years, I’ll be holding my hunts Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays, which are usually the days when neither Aaron nor Jean has another hunt. That way you can have a longer set of hunts and not have to choose between two ranches on any given day.

I’ll still be leading hunts to the Ritchie Ranch, the South Larremore Ranch, and East Needle Peak.

I’ll also have buckets of agate for sale. I’ve got about 400 buckets left, so there ought to be something you’d like to have in that selection. Since I’m not in Texas, I don’t have access to the buckets right now to show you photos or sell you something. I can, however, update my online inventory, and I hope to do that in the next week or so.

Be safe, y’all and have a great holiday season! I’ll let you know pretty soon what my schedule for the spring will be (probably as soon as I know Aaron’s & Jean’s schedules for the spring).

Regards,
Teri

Spring 2022 Rockhunts Scheduled!

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Teri Smith

Hi Y’all! Below is my complete rockhunting schedule for the Spring of 2022. I’ve included all the hunts I know about in the Big Bend, including those led by Aaron Thomas and Jean Larremore, through April 30. Both Aaron and Jean are leading hunts in May, but I stopped my calendar at the end of my hunts in order to get it out sooner…

Aaron, Jean and I work independently of each other. Each of us will be booking our own trips. Contact information for all of us is here:

Teri Smith’s rockhunts: email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net or teri@terismithrockhunts.com. If no one has signed up for a rockhunt 48 hours before it’s to start, I will cancel the hunt and make other plans. But if even just one person signs up, the rockhunt will happen. If the rockhunt is going to happen, you can just show up at the meeting location and go.

Aaron Thomas’ rockhunts: email him at texastakeahike@gmail.com, or visit the website www.takeahiketexas.com

Jean Larremore’s rockhunts: email her at jeanlarremore@yahoo.com, or through Facebook messenger. Please make your reservation with her at least 2 or 3 days before the rockhunt.

I will be sending out another email soon that contains my trip rules and guidelines of what to bring, wear, and do. Each ranch is a little different, so it’s important to check with the leader of your field tip about unusual circumstances (such as your bringing your pet aardvark along, bringing a bulldozer, or inviting Queen Elizabeth to join us).

I hope to see y’all out here this spring!

Regards,

Teri

Click Here to View Schedule

To rockhunt or not to rockhunt? Is that a question?

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Teri Smith

Hi y’all! It’s Fall, and with the cooler weather comes opportunities to hunt for agate and other collectible rocks in the Big Bend Region.

In a “normal” year I’d be attaching a schedule of my field trips to this email. But 2021 is not a normal year. COVID is still with us, and it’s still killing people. And we have no clue to what the long-term aftereffects of even a mild case may be.

I came out to California in May. Here in California there’s a mask mandate, and the rate of COVID infection is 25 people per 100k. In Texas, it’s 56 people per 100k. Since my #1 goal this year is not getting COVID, it makes sense for me to stay where the infection rate is much lower. So as of now I’ll stay out here. I’ll check in the middle of October whether the rate in Texas has gone down, and then decide if I’m coming back for November.

So while I may get back to Texas in time to lead field trips in November, it’s also possible that I won’t come back this Fall and Winter at all.

By the way, the photo above is from Patrick’s Point State Park in California, where they encourage you to pick up the agate and jade you find on the beach and take it with you. But you have to hike back up a cliff with it, so you end up being quite selective.

Until then, please consider Aaron Thomas’ field trips to the 06 Ranch, the Larremore Ranch, and Needle Peak. They are wonderful. I’ve attached his schedule to the bottom of this email and will put it on my website.

I’ll also be selling rocks when I get back there. I have 400 or so buckets yet to sell or sort through to pick out the best material to sell. I hope to make several more sorted Singleton buckets and Walker Ranch buckets out of the things I have left. Then I’ll sort and sell some smaller lots of things and perhaps special individual rocks, and the equipment I decide not to take with me to California.

I hope all of you are healthy and doing well in this unsettled year. I’ve done some rock hunting in California, and had fun, but a lot of the places I’ve wanted to go have been closed due to the wildfires or the concern that new wildfires could break out and there would be no firefighters left to put them out. The largest fire, the Dixie fire, is almost a million acres, and has been burning for over two months.

I miss seeing a lot of you and keeping up on what’s going on in your lives, going out with y’all to the beautiful ranches, and getting to see the lovely things you find. But when COVID recedes and we can gather in groups again without concern, the rocks will still be out there, waiting to be discovered. I look forward to that day.

Regards,
Teri

Here’s Aaron’s Schedule:

Field Trip Report: 06 Ranch (also called Winn VI Ranch)

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Teri Smith

Note: For details about attending one of these incredible hunts, see the note at the end of this post.

The hunt at the 06 was amazing. We drove north of Alpine on 118 for a ways, out onto the flat valley. We turned right into a dirt road, and drove east on dirt roads for about half an hour. We stopped at a huge valley with a pipe-and-wire corral in the middle of a lovely set of mountains. This was a new place Aaron and James had only hunted once before. The hills were similar in height to the bluffs at the Walker Ranch, and of course steeper in some places than others. There were outcroppings of basalt here and there.

There were 9 or so rockhunters on the trip (I believe 10 is the limit) and we were pointed to a hillside about half a mile long. We could fan out enough that we would have not been able to see each another. Aaron & James handed each of us a walkie-talkie to use, and since it’s deer season, we were loaned bright fluorescent vests to wear.

At the bottom of the hills, there was a field of rocks about grapefruit to football size. There were agate and quartz crystal pieces in those fields, partly buried in many cases. As you went up the hills, they got rockier, and in some places there was grass stubble between the rocks. Now and then you’d find a patch that had several good sized agates on the surface, and more partially buried. In between those patches were smaller sized agate and quartz crystal pieces and some small nodules that were interestingly colored and otherwise marked on the outside. There were lots of worked pieces and evidence of a native American campsite. We had been advised to go around the campsites when we found them, and although the one I saw was full of broken agate and jasper pieces, there was enough good stuff all over the hills to make it easy to bypass the camp sites.

Some of the agate and jasper there looked like material from the Ritchie. The dominant agate was yellow/gold/brown moss in a background of cream, white, or blue chalcedony.

The moss patterns varied from filaments of gold in lacy patterns, to larger patches and islands of moss, to patterns as dense as the flower garden moss from the Walker Ranch. There was enough of it on the surface of the part of that hillside where I was hunting to fill up the beds of several pickups. And the gold moss was ubiquitous: you would go into and out of areas with other types of agate, but you never got far away from the moss agate.

Along with the gold moss on that hillside there was red moss, black plume in cream and blue backgrounds, occasional pieces of red and gold moss, and some really neat stuff that they call “crayola”. It looks like the opalized agate that we found on the Ritchie, with much smaller opalized bits in a chalcedony background, often in a regular pattern. There were small and big pieces of that, some partly buried and a lot on the surface. Many had surface pits that were in a regular pattern, as if there had been filaments of aragonite or another material in the cavity as the agate formed. Some of the prettiest colors were lavender, maroon and mauve. I didn’t seen any ‘rind’ on any of the pieces, so they probably came from a large seam somewhere up the mountain.

We had 3 hours there and I probably picked up 100 lbs of what I thought was good material. Aaron wandered around collecting full bags and buckets, which he carried back down to the cars for us. Since I don’t carry a rock hammer, he helped me get a couple of large pieces of the ‘crayola’ agate out of the ground, then carried them down for me. On the way back down to the cars, I followed Aaron to another part of the hill, which was covered with beautiful quartz crystal specimens. I picked up some individual crystals that were at least 3” long, by far the biggest I’ve found on any of the ranches. There were lovely crystal on agate specimens sticking out of the ground everywhere! This was one place where I didn’t mind picking up gold moss agate!

I didn’t get to see what everyone else found, so I have no idea what was on the rest of the hill. We got back to the car a bit late, with Aaron carrying all sorts of nice things for me. Everyone else on the trip were people I had taken on fieldtrips, and everyone was excited by what they had found. Some of them were making their second special trip to Alpine from Houston, Schertz and San Antonio to hunt for one exciting day.

Then we drove back the way we’d come for a while, and took a different branch of one of the roads. In about 20 minutes we were at an area that was the other side of the mountain we had hunted before. The valley we were in now was not very wide, and there was supposed to be good agate basically everywhere.

There was a dry creek in the bottom of the valley, and since I was looking for the ladies’ room, I wandered into the brush in the creekbed. There were a lot of large pieces of blue chalcedony, some quite vivid, with gold moss or plume in them. There were different colors of blue and grey in fortification patterns or bands, and one had a red coating inside, all over the botryoidal surface, but only on the surface. I found several nice pieces of tube agate: one was blue with blue quartz crystals on the outside of the tubes, another was blue with black and grey fortification lines at the ends of tubes and then around several tubes. That one had gold moss that looked like it was in the middle of the tubes on one side that was broken obliquely to the pattern. There were also several small pieces that were spectacular!

Although there was supposed to be agate up on both hillsides of the little valley, I never got very far up the hills. I stayed in the creek bed for a while, then ventured only a little ways up each hillside. On one hillside I found several large nodules (the size of one of Johnny’s croissant sandwiches) that were orange or yellow chalcedony throughout and really big compared to the ones I found at the Ritchie and the Walker. I also found some pieces off a large seam agate that had a dense pattern that included red, blue, black grey and gold, and appears to have some plume in it.

It was there that I came across the only annoyance of the day, in the form of an individual bee that wanted me to turn around and leave. The bee hovered around my face and hands for several minutes until I got the hint. Since I’m really allergic to bee stings, I took his advice and wandered away from there. Full grown human: 0, Bee: 1.

The other hillside had some blue botryoidal pieces with crystals, a couple of nice red moss pieces, and my trip rock: a long, narrow nodule of tube agate with the edges broken off in several places. The chalcedony at the outer edge of the nodule was stained yellow and orange., and only part of the nodule was filled in around the tubes. In the lower part of the nodule, which was solid, there were filaments of pink that went to maroon and gold. The other end of the nodule was quartz crystal covered tubes.

We hunted there for another 3 hours, got back to the cars at 5 p.m., and the rocks were weighed up. I had 153 lbs., which included a very large piece of gold moss that was covered on one side with quartz crystals. If it weren’t for the help of Aaron and James in carrying my rocks back to the vehicle, I wouldn’t have gotten a third as much.

Today as I was washing the rocks and sorting them, I’ve found about 10 lbs. that, in retrospect, I should have left there. But first thing in the morning you don’t know what you’ll find later, and when you’re finding good stuff and having it carried back to the car for you, you don’t take much time to high grade.

My total adventure cost $213: $60 entrance fee and $153 for rocks. Was it worth it? Oh yes! It was exhilarating, hunting on ground that had not been hunted much before. It will be years before that particular hill runs out of large pieces, and there are hundreds and hundreds of hills on that ranch. Aaron and James and the other guys that were there to help dig and carry were helpful and nice. Aaron explained a bit of the geology to us before we started in the morning, and told us where we should find better material. I’ll admit I didn’t understand much of the geological information he was telling us, but his advice on where to find the good stuff was similar to what we had been practicing on the Walker, Singleton and other ranches. And the good stuff was indeed there. I’ve been on a lot of field trips (over 1000 when I quit counting), and this is one I’ll remember for many years. I’m going back again in 2 weeks.

Regards,
Teri

Note: The rockhunts on the 06 Ranch are being led by Aaron Thomas and James Winn VI. They begin at the Tri-La-Bite food trucks in Alpine. They currently happen only on Sundays, and are limited to 10 rockhounds per hunt. As of publication time, all hunts scheduled through 1/31/21 are full, and a new schedule for the Spring will be published in February. Once that schedule is published, I will try to schedule my rockhunts to other ranches (if indeed I am leading any) around the 06 hunts so you can come out to the Big Bend and go on hunts ion 4 different ranches in 4 days. If you have any questions about the hunts, you can reach Aaron Thomas at noraathomas@msn.com or roadcutgeology@yahoo.com

Help Santa out this year and buy Holiday Gift Rock Buckets from me.

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Teri Smith

It’s time again to start considering what to give your favorite rockhounds for the holidays. Obviously, the answer is not just ‘rocks’, or even ‘great rocks’, but ‘large quantities of great rocks’. To make your rock shopping easier, I’ve gathered more Walker Ranch cutting agates, and dropped the price on some other categories of rocks. And, if you order soon, I can pack them and ship them to you before the holiday rush. Or, you can come out for rockhunts and pick them up yourself. Here’s what I’m featuring:

Walker Ranch cutting agate, $250 per bucket.

Walker Ranch and Big Bend Crystal and Botryoidal Specimens, $100 per bucket.

Ritchie Ranch agate, $100 per bucket.

As you may recall, I ran out of buckets of Walker Ranch cutting agate last spring. However, I’ve figured out a way to gather Walker Ranch agate from a number of different types of buckets (Walker Ranch specimens, Misc. Agate, Misc. Rocks, Cut Ends, agate sorted by color, agate nodules, etc.) That idea is working well. I’ve gone through different buckets to find the Walker Ranch agate, and I now have 2 buckets of Walker Ranch agate to sell. I believe I’ll have perhaps 10 more by the time I’m done. Although these buckets are not ‘unsearched’, they are full of great stuff! I’m not holding out any cutting material that I find in the other buckets or anything like that.

Because the Walker Ranch specimen buckets have been raided for Walker Ranch cutting agate, I can’t say they’re ‘unsearched’ anymore, so I’m selling the Walker Ranch ‘searched’ specimen buckets, and many other buckets of crystal and botryoidal specimens, at $100 per bucket.

I’ve also reduced the price on the Ritchie Ranch buckets to $100 each, through the end of the year.

Shipping cost is $50 per bucket. I take checks, PayPal, and cash.

Regards,

Teri

P.S. I’ve had people ask me for details of the new ranch Aaron Thomas is beginning to lead fieldtrips on. I really know nothing about it, except that it’s just north and east of Alpine, and Aaron has shown me photos of wonderful agates that came from there. If you would like further information, please email Aaron at noraathomas@msn.com, or roadcutgeology@yahoo.com.