Tag Archives: Big Bend Texas

Spring 2024 Rockhunts Start SOOOOON

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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.

Fall 2023 Rockhunts

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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

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

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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

Need more rocks? I can help!

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Tired of being unable to go outside and hunt rocks?  Would some good agate from the Big Bend help you fight the “stay at home ‘til further notice” blahs?  And what better present for Mother’s Day than a few buckets full of agate?

I’ve spent my quarantine time learning how to successfully ship agate, and reconsidering some of the prices on my agate buckets.  So here are the deals:

FIRST, $50 SHIPPING.  I can send you a bucket’s worth of agate via USPS for $50.  Your rocks will arrive in 3 or 4 days in in 2 large, USPS flat-rate boxes. It takes me an hour or so to pack a bucket’s worth of rocks into the boxes and tape it up with enough filament tape to make sure it will get to you in perfect condition.  So far, I’ve shipped out more than 40 boxes, and all have arrived safely with no damage or loss to the rocks.

SINGLETON RANCH AGATES ON SALE!  Unlike the Walker Ranch buckets, where I separated specimens and cutting material, the  buckets of agate from the Singleton Ranch are completely unsorted.  That means you’re apt to get specimen material along with the cuttable agate. In order to make sure you feel like you’ve gotten a good idea, I’ve lowered the price of a bucket of Singleton Ranch agate to $125 for an unsorted bucket.  Or you can spend $250 for a bucket where I’ve combined two of the unsorted buckets and removed most of the stuff that won’t cut.

OTHER CATEGORIES STILL ON SALE:  In my first email about selling rock buckets, there were several categories of rocks that were at a low price until I could get around to sorting them.   But with the quarantine, people haven’t been able to come out rockhunting and pick up their buckets, so I’ve been spending a lot of my time packing and shipping rocks.  Since I won’t get to sorting those categories of agate anytime soon, the lower prices are still in force.  Those categories are:

Buckets of agate either sorted by color or marked  ‘mixed’ or ’misc’. $150

Buckets of Rocks that Aren’t Agate or Jasper $150

Buckets of agate from Margarita Gardner $175

I have only a couple of buckets of Walker Ranch cutting agate available at $250 per bucket.  I have had the chance to look at the contents of some of these buckets as I packed them, and I was amazed at what wonderful things were in there. Lots of red plume, black plume, flower garden agate, pastel fortification agates, and very amazing moss agates.  There are occasional Native American artifacts (mostly scrapers) in there, too, and a few geodes.  Once these last buckets are gone, there won’t be any more available from me, unless the ranch opens up for rockhunting again in the future.  Better order one right now if you want it!  Those of you who have reserved buckets already don’t have to worry:  I’ll keep them for you until you can get here to pick them up, or decide to have me mail them!

Since it looks like most of us will be staying home for the foreseeable future, these prices will be good through the end of May.  In June,  if we’re free to travel, I’ll go to California for the summer and won’t be back for a while…

I have a lot more types of agate for sale than I‘ve mentioned in this email.   I’ve updated my listing on my website to show the number of buckets of rocks available in each category now.  Some of the smaller categories are sold out.  To see the complete listing follow this link:  http://terismithrockhunts.com/rocks-for-sale/.

Regards,

Teri

Winter/Spring 2020 Rockhunt Schedule

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Aaron Thomas and I are happy to present the Big Bend rockhunt schedule for Winter and Spring, 2020.

Aaron has added a new ranch:  The Stieg Ranch, near Balmorhea. The Stieg Ranch is an alluvial fan, which is relatively flat terrain, with a creek bed running through it.  Both the alluvial fan and the creek bed have every type of agate that eroded out of the surrounding hills.  You can find the Balmorhea Blue agate, banded agate, jasper, petrified wood, chert and artifacts.  The fee will be $50 per person, and that will entitle you to a 5-gallon bucket full of collectible rocks.

Aaron will be leading field trips every weekend from January 4th through the end of April. I will be gone for January, February, and the beginning of March, and will begin my weekday hunts on Monday, March 16.  I’ll have hunts every weekday during the two weeks that constitute spring break for most Texas schools, so there will be hunts each day from Saturday, March 14 through Sunday, March 29.  Then there will be rockhunts Thursdays through Mondays for the next several weeks until  Monday, April 27.  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.

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.

Regards,

Teri and Aaron

Date Location Leader Cost Start Time Requirements
Sat. 12/28 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sun. 12/29 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 1/4 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 1/5 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat. 1/11 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 1/12 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 1/18 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 1/19 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat. 1/25 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 1/26 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 2/1 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 2/2 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat. 2/8 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 2/9 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 2/15 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 2/16 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat. 2/21 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 2/22 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 2/29 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 3/1 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sat. 3/7 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 3/8 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sat. 3/14 South Larremore Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun.3/15 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon. 3/16 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Tue. 3/17 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Wed 3/18 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Thu 3/19 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Fri 3/20 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 3/21 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 3/22 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon. 3/23 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Tue. 3/24 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Wed 3/25 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Thu 3/26 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 3/27 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Sat. 3/28 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people.  Cash only
Sun. 3/29 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people Cash or check
Thurs  4/2 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/3 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/4 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/5 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon 4/6 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/9 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/10 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/11 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/12 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon 4/13 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/16 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/17 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/18 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Sun. 4/19 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Mon 4/20 Ritchie Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check
Thurs 4/21 South Larremore Ranch Teri $50 8:00 Cash or check
Fri 4/24 East Needle Peak Teri $40 8:00 Cash or check
Sat. 4/25 Stieg Ranch Aaron $50 8:00 Limit of 12 people.  Cash or check
Sun. 4/26 Needle Peak Aaron $50 6:30 Limit of 12 people Cash only
Mon 4/27 Ritchie Ranch Teri $10 entrance + $1/lb 9:00 Cash or check

2019 Spring Rockhunt Schedule

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Below is the list of spring 2019 Rockhunts, including those in January which have already been published.

Date Time Trip Location Price
Thursday, 1/24/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Friday, 1/25/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Saturday, 1/26/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Sunday, 1/27/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Thursday, 2/7/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Friday, 2/8/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Saturday, 2/9/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Sunday, 2/10/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Monday, 2/11/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Thursday, 2/21/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Friday, 2/22/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Saturday, 2/23/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Sunday, 2/24/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Wednesday, 2/27/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Thursday, 2/28/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Saturday, 3/9/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Sunday, 3/10/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Thursday, 3/14/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Friday, 3/15/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Saturday, 3/16/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Sunday, 3/17/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Thursday, 3/21/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Friday, 3/22/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Saturday, 3/23/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Sunday, 3/24/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Thursday, 4/11/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Friday, 4/12/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Saturday, 4/13/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Sunday, 4/14/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Thursday, 4/18/19 8:00 a.m. East Needle Peak $40 per person
Friday, 4/19/19 9:00 a.m. Ritchie Ranch $10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Saturday, 4/20/19 8:00 a.m. South Larremore Ranch $50 per person
Sunday, 4/21/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Monday, 4/22/19 8:00 a.m. Stillwell Ranch 50 cents per lb. of rock you take
       

 

As usual, all trips start in front of the Antelope Lodge, 2310 W. Highway 90, Alpine.  To reserve your place on a trip, email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net.  Payment for the trip is not due until the morning of the trip.  All the ranches accept cash or check, and the Stillwell also accepts credit cards.  At least one person in your group needs to be a member of the Rollin’ Rock Club to go on the trips.  Cost is $10 per year for a single membership and $16 for a dual membership, purchasable at the time of the trip.

I’ll be out of town until the 18th, so, while I’ll be accepting reservations via email immediately, I may not send you a detailed response until at least the 19th.  Answers to most questions concerning rockhunts are available on my website (really, they are there!).

If no one is signed up for a trip 48 hours before it starts it will be cancelled.  Once cancelled, it can’t be “un-cancelled”.  So be sure to sign up!

Since the Antelope Lodge has changed ownership, the prices have gone up somewhat, and the amenities are different.  But the reservation website name is the same, www.antelopelodge.com.

I hope to see y’all this spring!

Regards,

Teri

 

 

 

 

Rockhunt Added for 11/12/18 and other items

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  1. I’ve scheduled on extra rockhunt for Monday November 12, at 8 a.m., to the South Larremore Ranch. Please let me know if you’d like to attend.
  1. The following rockhunts DO NOT have people signed up for them:

Thursday, 12/13:  South Larremore Ranch  8:00 a.m.

Thursday, 12/20:  East Needle Peak  8:00 a.m.

Friday, 12/21:  South Larremore Ranch  8:00 a.m.

Saturday, 12/22:  Stillwell Ranch  8:00 a.m.

Sunday, 12/23:  Ritchie Ranch  9:00 a.m.

If no one has signed up for these rockhunts two days before they are to occur, they will be cancelled.  Since at least one person has signed up for each of the other rockhunts on my list, they will happen.

  1. As many of you know, I don’t get paid in money to lead the field trips, but I get to pick up rocks. This has resulted in my having a collection of well over 1,000 5-gallon buckets full of agate, specimens, and other rocks.  It’s time for me to downsize my collection to include only the things I’d most like to cut and/or display.  I’d like your opinions and comments about how I can best facilitate the sale of most of my collection of 40,000 lbs of agate, specimens, and other rocks to rockhounds such as yourselves.  The collection is 90% Big Bend material, with the other 10% consisting of saleable, cuttable rock (geodes, lace agate, chevron amethyst, etc.) from the US and Mexico.  I am going through it right now to catalog it completely and decide what I want to keep.

There are five basic ways I can sell the collection:  as a complete collection; by the category; by the bucket as they are; by the bucket after I’ve curated the contents; and by the pound.   This list begins with the least expensive cost per pound and progresses to the most expensive one, because each succeeding option requires more of my time and effort than the previous one, thus adding to the cost.

The material includes just about everything that can be found at the ranches I’ve led rockhunts on, including the Walker and Singleton, which are now closed forever.  There’s material from the Woodward Ranch, and from a couple of ranches that were never opened to the public.  There’s old Mexican material from the estate of a man from Presidio who bought and sold agate by the ton or truckload, and from a couple of other estates of local rockhounds.  There’s some unusual material from the Gila National Forest in New Mexico that I can’t legally sell but can give to those who buy other stuff.  And there’s also over a ton of slag glass.

There are also several methods I can use to sell the rocks:  my website, www.terismithrockhunts; another sales channel like eBay, or the Facebook rock pages; via emails to my email list; or at sales at my home here in Alpine.

I would appreciate you letting me know whether you’d have any interest in purchasing rocks from me, and what option and method would work best for you.  I’ll take all that information into consideration as I decide what to do. Obviously, there’s no obligation on either side…

Regards,

Teri

 

 

Lots of Agate Available for Fall Rockhunts

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Jean Larremore will indeed lead trips to on her ranch on Tuesday, October 18 and Tuesday October 25.

This last week, I’ve been on the South Larremore Ranch, the Ritchie Ranch, and the Singleton Ranch.  There’s lots of new agate visible on all three ranches.  We’ve had lots of rain in the last few months, and that’s at least partly responsible for uncovering new pieces.

At the South Larremore Ranch, there were a few muddy spots in the creek bottom, but very few puddles (and all of them were small enough to really call puddles).  The mud at the crossing was too deep and sloppy to attempt the crossing in a car, but we walked across it (after I slipped and fell on my butt, of course).  By the time the day was over, Brian Larremore had used the tractor and made the crossing good enough that we would have been able to drive it.  However, since then it has rained for two solid days here in Alpine, and I have no idea how much rain they got down there.

Regards,

Teri

Fall rockhunt information: Corrections and additions.

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  1. The Singleton Ranch accepts only cash.
  1. On the big Fall hunts schedule, I got two of the starting times wrong. They are corrected below:
November
Th 17 Stillwell Ranch Start Time:  7 a.m.
December
S 24 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.

Or, to put it another way, the starting times for all Fall field trips will be:

East Needle Peak and Stillwell Ranch:  7 a.m.

Singleton Ranch, and South Larremore Ranch:  8 a.m.

Ritchie Ranch:  9 a.m.

  1. The Larremore Ranch and the South Larremore Ranch mentioned in the field trip list are the same place. But the South Larremore Ranch is not the same as the old Larremore Ranch that we hunted back in about 2006.  The South Larremore Ranch is very productive with lots of unusual agates in addition to those similar to the Alpine agates and the agates from the Needle Peak area.  If this is confusing, just remember that all the Larremore ranch field trips on the Fall schedule are to the same wonderful ranch.
  1. I neglected to mention in the email that, if no one has signed up for a field trip a week before the date of the trip, the trip will be cancelled. I know this makes it difficult for people who make last-minute trips to the Big Bend, but in previous years I spent a lot of time preparing for field tips just in case someone wanted to attend who hadn’t signed up. My schedule this year is too tight to allow me to do that.

Thank you all for bearing with me.  I’ve only been doing this for 15 years or so.  I should know what to put in an email by now!

Regards,

Teri

Rockhunt Schedule for September through December 2016

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The big schedule below covers scheduled rockhunts for September through December, 2016.

September, 2016
F 16 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
S 17 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 20 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
W 21 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 22 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 23 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
S 24 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Su 25 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
M 26 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
October, 2016
Th 6 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
S 15 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
Su 16 East Needle Peak Start Time:  7 a.m.
M 17 Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 18 Larremore Ranch with Jean Larremore Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 19 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 20 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 25 Larremore Ranch with Jean Larremore Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 26  Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 27 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 28 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
S 29 East Needle Peak Start Time:  7 a.m.
Su 30 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
M 31 Stillwell Ranch Start Time:  7 a.m.
November, 2016
W 9 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 10 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 11 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
S 12 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Su 13 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
M 14 East Needle Peak Start Time:  7 a.m.
Tu 15 Larremore Ranch with Jean Larremore Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 16 S. Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 17 Stillwell Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
 Su 20 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
M 21 S. Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 22 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
W 23 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 24 East Needle Peak Start Time:  7 a.m.
December, 2016
Tu 6 Mule Deer Season:  Special South Larremore Ranch hunt Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 7 Mule Deer Season:  Special South Larremore Ranch hunt Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 8 Mule Deer Season:  Special South Larremore Ranch hunt Start Time:  8 a.m.
Th 15 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 16 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
S 17 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Su 18 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
M 19 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 20 Larremore Ranch with Jean Larremore Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 21 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
Th 22 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 23 East Needle Peak Start Time:  7 a.m.
S 24 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Su 25 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
M 26 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
Tu 27 Larremore Ranch with Jean Larremore Start Time:  8 a.m.
W 28 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
Th 29 South Larremore Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.
F 30 Ritchie Ranch Start Time:  9 a.m.
S 31 Singleton Ranch Start Time:  8 a.m.

The prices for the ranches are unchanged from last year: The Ritchie Ranch is $10 entrance fee per person and $1 per lb. for the agate you take; the South Larremore Ranch is $40 per person if I take you, and $50 per person if Jean or Brian Larremore take you; the Singleton Ranch is $50 per person, which gets you up to a 5-gallon bucket of agate (if you find more it’s $40 per bucket, charged in ¼ bucket increments), and East Needle Peak is $40 per person.  On all of these ranches, kids under 12 hunt free, but their rocks count in the total you pay for.  The Stillwell Ranch has no admission fee and charges 50 cents per pound for good rocks. The price for the Rollin’ Rock club membership, which is required for my hunts, is also unchanged at $10 per calendar year for a single membership and $16 per calendar year for a dual membership.  And the price for my guide services is still the same:  free, but you can give me a gratuity if you feel so inclined.

All trips begin in front of the office at the Antelope Lodge, 2310 W. Highway 90 in Alpine.  However, if you’re staying someplace that is closer to the hunt site than Alpine is, let me know and I’ll try to make arrangements to meet you someplace along the route.

I look forward to seeing y’all this Fall!

Regards,

Teri