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Went to a gold and gem field, searched for Tonopah jasper and turquoise at the Ottoman Mines. At the end of the dig, we were given a piece of white bullifo from their mines. We had beautiful weather for our three day trip. Plenty of material was found and buckets were full. It was also nice to spend the evenings with the group and get to know each other better.

A super day to be out in the beautiful Mohave Desert with clear, cool weather. We had 21 rock hounders and visited three sites. There was so much material that begged to be collected that you had to keep looking up.

43 rock hounders, including 6 kids (12 members and 31 guests!). With 24 cars, we had to car pool on the narrow road. Beautiful, clear day in the Warner Valley in San Diego County. The key search turned out to be quartz crystals with perfect points. There were at least 28 minerals to find, so everyone went home with full buckets.

We had nine residents of the Warner Valley join us. One couple even invited us to rock hound in their backyard as they live in the area of the mine. Several guests also showed interest in joining YVGMS and visiting our shop.

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Twenty-five members of our club, plus friends, came along. We were not disappointed and everyone went home with filled buckets. What also added to the fun was the other rocks and minerals found and the history of the cavern.

Our group of 19 people, including two kids, was led by Tim, a master at making cabs. We made three stops to pick up agate, opalite, quartz, black limestone, and beautiful red and yellow jasper. The prize find of the day was jasper with the yellow and red blended together. A beautiful day to be out in the Mojave Desert!

We had 21 rock hounders on our Owens Valley field trip! Thirteen were from other clubs in Southern California.

On the first day, everyone found a piece of amazonite and blue beryl at the Haystack. Day two was spent at the Reward mine and Crystal Hill, where quartz crystals and points, agates, and iron were found. The big finds were limonite cubes (bigger than dice) and silver galena. Day three we visited several gold mines and the Green Monster Mine. Plenty of copper minerals were found with rich blue and green color. Most of the group scaled the cliff to reach the tunnels and were richly rewarded with samples.

In the evenings we met at different restaurants, ate together, and got to know each other better, and best of all, to brag about our finds!

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Many of us met the night before for pizza in Lone Pine and then on to Darwin the next morning. We had 18 rockhounders including 4 teenagers. We visited two spots on the same mountain with over 20 mines. The area was mined for minerals and ores. Many of the items found had to be taken home to be identified. The finds of the day were amethyst crystal, pyrite, and lead cubes. We also drove around the town of Darwin and saw the holes that miners dug in the hillsides and made into homes.

Beautiful fall weather with no rain. After getting lost and having one pickup get stuck in the sand, we got to the beds.

The goal was to find a complete oyster shell with matching halves. Jacob, our youngest hounder, found a shell that was not open and complete. It was a fun day until we hit the rain on I10 coming home, which reminded me of the monsoon rainstorms in Asia.