Thank you to everyone who came out to West Texas for the recent rockhunts.  It was a busy couple of weeks!    The field trips were all a great success.  The weather was fantastic.  People found great rocks.  Everyone had fun.  The Sunday night barbecue was wonderful (thanks again to Johnny French and the Lodge’s own Brenda Condra)!  And everyone picked up their trash and left the ranches clean!

There were 10 people that went to the Ritchie Ranch, 21 who went to East Needle Peak, and a total of 42 who went to the Walker Ranch (23 for 3 days or more, 19 for 1 or 2 days.)  The rockhounds came from Oklahoma, New Mexico, Georgia, Missouri, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Arkansas in addition to many people from different parts of Texas.

The intention is to do this again next year at the time of the Alpine Agate Festival.  Also, we could have a set of field trips in late September or early October if we can get the 20 people required for the Walker Ranch.

So- are you interested in a Fall hunt?  If so, please email me (or reply to this email) and let me know.  We could do the weekends of September 28 & 29, October 5 & 6, or October 12 & 13.  I’d like to know how many people would come in your group, and which weekend you’d prefer.

As for me, I found a fantastic piece of banded agate:  a 15-1/2 lb chunk of purple, hot pink, and grey with yellow citrine crystals that’s nothing like the usual Walker Ranch agate.  The photo below, taken by Johnny French, shows me holding my prize.  I’ve never seen anything like it from the Big Bend!

And for all of you who didn’t get to go on this set of field trips, we’ve just had some rain this afternoon, so there will be lots of great rocks for you to find when you can get out here.

Regards, Teri