Twin Peaks volcanoes and Obsidian hunt. We drove South to find obsidian or Apache
Tears. As has been the case for all of our rockhounding, the trip there was desolate. Farms, utilities, railroads and mountains! Again we have the entire state, it seems, to ourselves. Vast and isolated.
The only thing you encounter is the occasional antelope. Fortunately, we didn't come across any rattlesnakes except for a dead one in the road!
We found lots of obsidian! There were also desert flowers in bloom, including cactus shown below. It's Don's fourth and my third trip out gem hunting and we're starting to look like we know what we're doing!
Don did some chopping with his chisel, but we found the most obsidian just lying on the ground, usually on the slope of the mountain (volcano) or at the base where the water runs off.
Pam picking up obsidian from twin peaks.
The 360 degree panoramic shots, like below, are fun and they show the terrain nicely. While in Utah, to the West the mountains are not snow covered now, but to the East, toward the Rockies and Colorado they are snowcapped.
We made a rule that when we were down to opening our last bottle of water, and we always took alot, we would head back to civilization. Good Rule.
You can see Don on the mountain in the photo below.
Pro rockhounders!
We found a lot of obsidian! Don also found a couple arrowheads made from obsidian.
Going through the booty bucket back at the hotel. What to keep and ship home? What to throw back?
Thanks to our family and friends who have found our blog enjoyable so far. Sadly, the rockhounding leg of the trip is at an end and we head to Moab tomorrow (though not really so sad, I know, I know!). There are some possible spots for gem hunting in our future, though, I think, and now we've got the knowhow!
No comments:
Post a Comment