while at the deming, new mexico local museum I saw one of the most amazing collections of minerals, crystals and other related things, all made up from the best of local families' personal collections. the back side of the display area (as large as my apartment) was filled with displays and scientific explanations of the formations of geodes and thundereggs and also agates. there are places nearby where you can sift through the soil/sand/dust and with time, find many geodes and similarly-formed crystals. I thought it would be pretty cool to wander around some mountain trails, somewhere and find some of these things, and after this a friend of my mother's came into the museum (who happens to be a member of the local rockhounding club). my mother mentioned my interest and I was invited to the next field trip which happened to be the next saturday! 
the morning was very bright, very breezy and quite cool, but I was equipped with several antelope/egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches that my stepfather had made the night before (antelope is pretty good!) along with lots of water, so I was good to go! I had been warned about rattlesnakes, but was also told that it would be way too cool for them to make an appearance. others also told me that in summer, there could be lots of tarantulas and also scorpions (yay cold weather!) and that often driving down the road lots of tarantulas would try to dash in front of cars (and not make it, of course). they aren't poisonous to humans, and not overly aggressive, so being careful usually doesn't result in any problems with them.
the group leader taking us to the three locations (they could qualify as 'hills' in florida) which weren't anything more than low mounds in the middle of the wide desert floor. the area is mostly made up of volcanic formations, so almost anywhere you can find different color forms of jasper (mostly brownish-red). for this field trip, the target crystals we were looking for were agates. it was asked if anyone wanted to take trip pictures so I volunteered
example of a small agate chip whose surface was 'bubbled'
people and dogs piling out of vehicles in hopes of finding that perfect agate specimen.
if you look closely you can see mountains in the distance, and over the right pickup
truck you can see cook's peak, which is a famous area known for being a stop on the
famous butterfield stagecoach line, a rare source of water in the 1800's, a location
for an indian settlement and site of many battles between indians and whoever else
was in the area at the time (water = visitors -> indian attacks in narrow places)
club members digging through loose soil
someone from previous trip had brought rock-cutting tools with them
and this was their 'dump pile' of cut chips
club member Jim who gave me ride to and from rock sites. we were on
the tail end of the wagon train, so it was jim's job to close the cattle gates
after the group went through. the sites were on BLM land (bureau of land
management) and some cattle were also grazing on that land
some of the nicest specimens I found right away at the first site. I quickly learned
that jim would park his jeep right next to some of the nicest crystals, so as
soon as we parked I would get out and look around right next to the vehicle.
the first spot we were at was supposed to have 'red agate'; the second possibly
blue agates, and the last one black agates. each spot would have some of the same
agates, plus a few different ones unique to that spot. our guide told us that in this
area, if you looked at the shape of the rocks most of them were triangular in shape
which was a signature to rocks from these hills
my rock bucket after the first stop. I soon learned to not pick up everything I
found, or else I would have ended up with five buckets full of rocks!
club member sifting for agates
to the general south of deming, there was a 'weather balloon' moored to the ground
which it was sometimes guessed that had electronic devices scanning
the area for 'unregistered visitors' moving up from the south.
(more in reply thread)
the morning was very bright, very breezy and quite cool, but I was equipped with several antelope/egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches that my stepfather had made the night before (antelope is pretty good!) along with lots of water, so I was good to go! I had been warned about rattlesnakes, but was also told that it would be way too cool for them to make an appearance. others also told me that in summer, there could be lots of tarantulas and also scorpions (yay cold weather!) and that often driving down the road lots of tarantulas would try to dash in front of cars (and not make it, of course). they aren't poisonous to humans, and not overly aggressive, so being careful usually doesn't result in any problems with them.
the group leader taking us to the three locations (they could qualify as 'hills' in florida) which weren't anything more than low mounds in the middle of the wide desert floor. the area is mostly made up of volcanic formations, so almost anywhere you can find different color forms of jasper (mostly brownish-red). for this field trip, the target crystals we were looking for were agates. it was asked if anyone wanted to take trip pictures so I volunteered
example of a small agate chip whose surface was 'bubbled'
people and dogs piling out of vehicles in hopes of finding that perfect agate specimen.
if you look closely you can see mountains in the distance, and over the right pickup
truck you can see cook's peak, which is a famous area known for being a stop on the
famous butterfield stagecoach line, a rare source of water in the 1800's, a location
for an indian settlement and site of many battles between indians and whoever else
was in the area at the time (water = visitors -> indian attacks in narrow places)
club members digging through loose soil
someone from previous trip had brought rock-cutting tools with them
and this was their 'dump pile' of cut chips
club member Jim who gave me ride to and from rock sites. we were on
the tail end of the wagon train, so it was jim's job to close the cattle gates
after the group went through. the sites were on BLM land (bureau of land
management) and some cattle were also grazing on that land
some of the nicest specimens I found right away at the first site. I quickly learned
that jim would park his jeep right next to some of the nicest crystals, so as
soon as we parked I would get out and look around right next to the vehicle.
the first spot we were at was supposed to have 'red agate'; the second possibly
blue agates, and the last one black agates. each spot would have some of the same
agates, plus a few different ones unique to that spot. our guide told us that in this
area, if you looked at the shape of the rocks most of them were triangular in shape
which was a signature to rocks from these hills
my rock bucket after the first stop. I soon learned to not pick up everything I
found, or else I would have ended up with five buckets full of rocks!
club member sifting for agates
to the general south of deming, there was a 'weather balloon' moored to the ground
which it was sometimes guessed that had electronic devices scanning
the area for 'unregistered visitors' moving up from the south.
(more in reply thread)
