Two weeks ago my friend Jason and I decided that we wanted to go search for thunder eggs at a nearby claim of the Owyhee Gem and Mineral Society. I always liked this location because it is less than an hour away from my home.

We had heard that the BLM had put up a gate to keep people out of the area but that there was a back way in. When we arrived at the location we did find that there was a gate at the main entrance to the claim as we were told. I thought this was no big deal because I knew where the back road was. We then went to the back road location and found that there was now a gate at that location. This was a real bummer because now we would have to hike into the claim. The hike in is not bad at all but the hike out is not fun when hauling a five gallon bucket of rocks back to the truck.

I understand that the BLM must take steps to protect public lands but I feel that these gates were uncalled for. The only thing that these gates blocked was the roads leading to an active mining claim owned by our club. There are no streams or unique habitats to protect. The roads are leaving a slight impact on the landscape and have been topic of discussion at our meetings. The discussion is that we want to put a plan together to repair the main road in and present it to the BLM. As for the back road, a gate is not a bad thing.

What made these gates even more irritating was when we went further into the area and found no other gates. One location had a marker stating that the trail had be closed but less than 20 yards away was another road leading to the same place that was not closed. We hiked into this area and found a beautiful canyon with a stream running through it and cattle doing their business in the stream. I would have done something to protect this site. The road actually went threw the stream many times and the stream could spread the cattle mess to many other areas.

This situation also made me wonder if it was legal for the BLM to block the only access to a legal mining claim. I am not sure of the laws regarding this issue but I feel that gates that are placed just to keep claim owners out of their claim is crummy thing to do.

Despite the gates we still had a good time searching for thunder eggs. The picture below is of a very small piece of an egg I found and polished. It is about the size of the end of my thumb. I wish it was larger.

68th Annual NFMS Show

Up and Coming in Ontario

June 20-22, 2008

Ontario, Oregon, Malheur County Fairgrounds Convention Center

Meetings held in the Malheur County Fairgrounds Multi-Purpose Room

Features:

Top exhibits of minerals, fossils, gems and jewelry, field trips every day, silent auction, kids activity building, dinosaur eggs & trackways, games & prizes, scavenger hunt

Dealers:

The finest dealers of jewelry, minerals, mining equipment, fossils, flint knapping, and hobby supplies

Time:

10:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day

Admission:

Adult $5.00, Senior $4.00, Students (10-17), Children 10 and under free if accompanied by an adult.

Host:

STALLKNECHT MUSEUM GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY

 

Margaret Stallknecht, 2008 NFMS Show Chairman
P. O. B0x 171, Letha, ID 83636-0171
Phone: (208) 365-1653
Email: mestallknecht@yahoo.com

Saturday my friend Jason and I went on another rock hunting adventure to McBride Creek and Succor Creek. It was not one of our most prosperous trips but still a not-so-good rock collecting trip is better than a good day at work.

I had put together a list of nine sites to visit the day before and was very excited about going to all of them despite knowing that this would be a daunting task. We left Nampa around 7:30 and headed out of town on highway 45. Along the way I pointed out the remains of a volcanic cinder cone that is on the right side of the road as you leave the farmlands and head down the hill towards Walters Ferry. Next we turned on to highway 78 and went past Givens Hot Springs where fire opal was once mined. From highway 78 we turned onto Sommer Camp Road which went by Hard Trigger, where thunder eggs can be found, Squaw Creek, where opal can be found, and Queen Stone, where Jasper can be found. We did not stop at any of these locations because we really wanted to get McBride creek and Succor Creek. From Sommer Camp Road we turned on to Highway 95 which would take us to the desires location where we started following my list.

The first location we stopped at around McBride Creek was a place where we could find jasper and petrified wood in a creek bed. We found a few small pieces there but nothing special. The water was still running hard in this stream so it might be a good place to return to later this summer when the stream is dry.

The next location was about a half mile away. The notes I had on this location stated that we could find petrified wood. We ended up hiking to the top of a hill where the GPS location indicated. Along the way we found only two pieces of wood, both were smaller than a finger nail. I did find a fragment of an obsidian arrow head but even that was not that impressive. At this point I also realized that I had left my camera at home. So not only was I not finding any materials to take home, I could not take pictures of the view to share on this blog. As we returned to the jeep we found a couple larger pieces of wood but nothing that made us want to take time searching for more.

The third location on the list was a red bog wood site. This site was about three to four miles off our path so we decided to skip it and go to Succor Creek Park to collect thunder eggs. This is the same location I wrote about a few weeks ago. This site is used by more than just rock hounds so along the way to the bed we were stopped by people asking what we were up to. I guess people carrying tools and five gallon buckets stand out. We explained that the area is well known for thunder eggs and that we were there to collect them. Once we reached the egg bed we met John and Steve who were also there to collect thunder eggs. These gentlemen were member of the Idaho Gem Club. We talked for a while about rock hounding and field trips that local clubs have. We continued collecting until both Jason and I had about a third of a bucket of eggs. This turned out to be the biggest haul for the day.

When we returned back to the jeep there was a couple that had a flat tire stopped in the park. Jason noticed that they did not have a big enough jack to change the tire so he took his jack and helped them out. Once they were done they could not figure out how to lower the jack. John and Steve returned and also took a look at the issue with the jack. It took almost 30 minutes to get the jack down and almost an hour for the whole event. At least now Jason will know how the jack works the next time he uses it.

Since it took so long to figure the jack out we decided to skip out next stop, another thunder egg location, and head to a site where opal could be found. We followed the GPS unit to where the location should have been but could not find anything. I had been to location once before and knew we were in the area but I still could not find it again. After searching for a while we decided that it was time to start heading home. I did have a few Jasper locations on the list but we were just too tired to continue.

On our way home we stopped at a dry creek bed and another hill that had some interesting characteristics. At the creek bed we did find some jasper and petrified wood. These pieces were the nicest pieces of both materials that we found that day. At the hill we found a few small pieces of petrified wood. This might be a good place to explore more when we are not as tired as we were by then.

AS we returned to my house I had a hard time staying awake. Once we were there Jason cut his thunder eggs. I wanted to cut some of my stuff but was just too tired. After Jason left I went inside had dinner with the family, took a shower and then crashed bring an end to another fine day of rock hounding.