Tag Archives: Agate collecting

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

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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:

Rockhunts for November and December 2019

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I’ve finally got a rockhunt schedule for the rest of November and December, and there are some very exciting developments for y’all!

I’m now working with Aaron Thomas, who is a degreed mineralogist and geologist, and a full time Alpine resident.  He and his wife Katrina run a food truck  business in Alpine called Tri-la-Bite, so he’s only free to lead field trips on Saturdays and Sundays.  He has been rockhunting in the Big Bend for most of his life, and has several ranches available for field trips on an occasional basis and a couple he can go to all the time.  Aaron’s very enthusiastic as well as knowledgeable, has more stamina than all of us put together, and is lots of fun to be around.

Because of Aaron’s schedule, I’ll be moving my field trips to the weekdays before and after the weekends when Aaron can lead trips.  This will give y’all the longest possible time for rockhunting on your trip out to the Big Bend, and you can pick and choose which days you’d like to hunt.  You can sign up for Aaron’s field trips the same way you sign up for mine:  send me an email with the days you wish to attend, and make sure to include the phone number for a cell phone you’ll have with you.  Both Aaron and I will be leading trips to the South Larremore Ranch.   All of Aaron’s field trips will be limited to 12 people, and there’s still no limit to the number than can attend my field trips.

For this set of rockhunts, the new ranch Aaron has available each weekend is the Needle Peak property owned by Jan Woodward.  This is the traditional Needle Peak site which has produced great pompom and moss agates and for the past 60 or so years. It’s west of the East Needle Peak property we’ve been hunting on for years, and if you wish to climb up to where the agate is coming out of the mountain, it’s rather steep.  But there is plenty of agate to be found on the flat area below the mountains and above the creekbed.  I was there last weekend and there are spectacular things to be found!  And Jan Woodward is donating all proceeds from the hunts to the local animal shelter in the name of her late husband Trey Woodward.

All field trips this year will begin at Tri-la-Bite, which is at the corner of Holland Avenue and Garnett Street in Alpine.  It’s on the left side of the street, across from the Sonic Drive-In.

So here’s the schedule.  Be sure to look at the start time for your field trip because they vary depending upon the ranch. I love y’all, but I’m tired of getting emails and calls for questions that are answered in this email, and available on my website.

Date Location Leader Cost Start Time Requirements
Thurs. 11/14 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Fri. 11/15 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 11/16 South Larremore Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 11/17 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon. 11/18 South Larremore Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Thurs. 11/28 South Larremore Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri. 11/29 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Sat. 11/30 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sun. 12/1 South Larremore Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Mon 12/2 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 12/7 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sun 12/8 South Larremore Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people Cash or check
Sat 12/14 South Larremore Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people Cash or check
Sun 12/15 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat 12/21 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sun 12/22 South Larremore Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people Cash or check

Rollin’ Rock Club membership is still required for my field trips.  Cost is $10 single and $16 for a dual membership.  Membership will run through the year 2020.

Regards,

Teri

News, both Good and Bad

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The last of the old-time rockhunting ranches has been closed.  The wonderful Stillwell Ranch has been divided and much of it has been sold.  Included in the sale is the old primitive campground and the hills in which we used to find marvelous agate.  The black tank area to the north of the big wash has been sold as well.

The Stillwell Ranch is still open as a place to stay, with RV hookups, primitive camping, and the store.  There is another ranch in the area that has expressed an interest in hosting rockhunters, and I intend to talk to them soon.   I’ll let you know as things progress.

As for me, I’m in California for a while, but I may  be coming back to Texas to lead field trips in Fall 2019 as well as in Spring 2020.  Some of that depends on y’all.  Please let me know if you’d be interested in Fall field trips, and when you’d like them.  I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to do Fall trips, but if I do, I’d like to do them when as many as possible can attend.  So send me an email that indicates when you’d consider coming out for hunts, and how many people would be in your group.  I realize that this is all incredibly iffy, but the more I know about when y’all would come out if  every thing falls together, the better I can plan.

My husband John is not doing all that well right now, but I believe the doctors are getting a handle on it and he’ll be feeling better soon.  The lower elevation seems to be helping him breathe better, and his medicines need to be tweaked to what his current condition is.

Since I don’t think that I’ll be able to reopen my  museum soon, I am offering for sale some of the exhibit material, including the plume agate ‘windows”.  The windows are $2500.00 each, or $4500 for both.  I also have two other panels that have never been displayed, one of which is composed of mostly local material, and the other of which is mostly Brazilian.

I’ve also still got agate buckets for the Walker and Singleton ranches, and Stillwell, Ritchie, Larremore, East Needle Peak and other material as well.  Nothing will happen on that until I’m back in Texas, but the more I know about what you want to purchase, the better I can accommodate you.

I hope y’all are having a wonderful summer!  If you’re rockhunting, or cutting previous finds, I’d love to see photos of your rocks!

Regards,
Teri