Singleton Ranch Trip Report. The January hunts were fantastic! Before the hunts started, I had the opportunity to do some scouting, and came up with a location that hadn’t been hunted at all. It’s in the easternmost part of the ranch, and anyone who’s been there with me has driven by it. It’s a large, flat area that has large pieces of agate scattered across it. I found two nice-sized chunks of bouquet agate in an hour, along with water level agate, and large botryoidal and crystal specimens.
The locations that we’ve hunted before are also yielding some incredible pieces. Several large (fist-sized) pieces of bright pink, red, and yellow bouquet agate were found on the big mesa on the northern part of the ranch, along with many, many smaller ones. Great agate was also found on the bluff on the western side of the ranch, along with the green botryoidal agate and green plumes.
Three of the people who came for the first weekend had so much fun that they came back for the second weekend. Glen Fritz and Sue Patillo drove back to San Antonio on Monday and came back to Alpine on Thursday. I did some scouting on the second weekend, too, and found another small patch of bouquet agate in an area that is relatively unexplored.
The next hunt is next weekend: Thursday, February 6th through Sunday, February 9th. The second rockhunt in February is on a weekend when there’s an event in the Big Bend: The Cowboy Poetry Gathering. This means that there are probably no hotel rooms left in Alpine, and very likely none in Marfa, either. So if you were planning to come to Alpine that weekend, check on accommodations now to see if you can get a place to stay. If you want to come the third weekend in the month rather than the fourth, perhaps that can be arranged.
Walker Ranch Trip in April. The 2014 Alpine Gem Show will be April 18th, 19th, and 20th. The Walker Ranch rockhunt this year will be a six-day hunt, starting on Wednesday, April 16th, and running through the next Monday, April 21. Sign-ups are starting now, so if you are planning on coming, please email me. Those who pay their fees prior to March 20 can hunt on Monday, April 21 at no additional charge!
We’ll need to have a minimum of 20 people who have paid their deposits by April 1 for the rockhunt to happen. The price is still the same: $75 per person per day, or $150 per person for 3 days. The fourth and fifth days are $35 each. Those of you who have been here know that this ranch is certainly worth the price of admission. If you haven’t been to the Walker Ranch, check out my website, www.terismithrockhunts.com, for information and photos.
Please email me back if you’re interested in hunting at the Walker, at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net (or reply to this email), and let me know how many people will be in your group. We’d love to have clubs come out at that time! You will be able to dry camp on the ranch if you wish, at no cost. Your reservation won’t be confirmed until you send a deposit of half the cost of the rockhunt. I’ll send you the details about the deposit once you tell me you are coming.
There will be Singleton Ranch rockhunts during the weekends before and after the Walker Ranch hunt, and if I have any energy left, there’ll also be field trips to the Ritchie Ranch and East Needle Peak. I’ll publish that schedule soon, so if you have any preferences about where you go on what days, please let me know.
This is going to be a very busy, fun spring, and I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of you out here, finding some of the most beautiful agate in the world!
Regards, Teri
The locations that we’ve hunted before are also yielding some incredible pieces. Several large (fist-sized) pieces of bright pink, red, and yellow bouquet agate were found on the big mesa on the northern part of the ranch, along with many, many smaller ones. Great agate was also found on the bluff on the western side of the ranch, along with the green botryoidal agate and green plumes.
Three of the people who came for the first weekend had so much fun that they came back for the second weekend. Glen Fritz and Sue Patillo drove back to San Antonio on Monday and came back to Alpine on Thursday. I did some scouting on the second weekend, too, and found another small patch of bouquet agate in an area that is relatively unexplored.
The next hunt is next weekend: Thursday, February 6th through Sunday, February 9th. The second rockhunt in February is on a weekend when there’s an event in the Big Bend: The Cowboy Poetry Gathering. This means that there are probably no hotel rooms left in Alpine, and very likely none in Marfa, either. So if you were planning to come to Alpine that weekend, check on accommodations now to see if you can get a place to stay. If you want to come the third weekend in the month rather than the fourth, perhaps that can be arranged.
Walker Ranch Trip in April. The 2014 Alpine Gem Show will be April 18th, 19th, and 20th. The Walker Ranch rockhunt this year will be a six-day hunt, starting on Wednesday, April 16th, and running through the next Monday, April 21. Sign-ups are starting now, so if you are planning on coming, please email me. Those who pay their fees prior to March 20 can hunt on Monday, April 21 at no additional charge!
We’ll need to have a minimum of 20 people who have paid their deposits by April 1 for the rockhunt to happen. The price is still the same: $75 per person per day, or $150 per person for 3 days. The fourth and fifth days are $35 each. Those of you who have been here know that this ranch is certainly worth the price of admission. If you haven’t been to the Walker Ranch, check out my website, www.terismithrockhunts.com, for information and photos.
Please email me back if you’re interested in hunting at the Walker, at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net (or reply to this email), and let me know how many people will be in your group. We’d love to have clubs come out at that time! You will be able to dry camp on the ranch if you wish, at no cost. Your reservation won’t be confirmed until you send a deposit of half the cost of the rockhunt. I’ll send you the details about the deposit once you tell me you are coming.
There will be Singleton Ranch rockhunts during the weekends before and after the Walker Ranch hunt, and if I have any energy left, there’ll also be field trips to the Ritchie Ranch and East Needle Peak. I’ll publish that schedule soon, so if you have any preferences about where you go on what days, please let me know.
This is going to be a very busy, fun spring, and I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of you out here, finding some of the most beautiful agate in the world!
Regards, Teri