(Not affiliated with Pasadena Lapidary Society)
Hallowe’en Weekend in the Inland Empire
Field Trip to the San Luis Obispo area, July 17, 2021–THIS TRIP IS FULL
Beat the heat and join us for adventure in the San Luis Obispo area on July 17th. We’ll be searching for agates and brecciated jaspers in local creekbeds. Sorry, this trip is full and we are not taking any more signups at this time. Please join us for the next trip in August!
Field Trip to Prescott/Jerome AZ
This August 6-8, 2021 field trip will include rock hunting in Jerome, AZ and visiting the Prescott Gem and Mineral Show in Prescott Valley, AZ.
We’ll be searching for agate (pictured below) in Jerome, AZ on August 7th. Our guide will be a local Prescott Gem and Mineral rock club member. Note that rock hunting is on Saturday, August 7th ONLY!
When it gets too hot, we’ll check out the Prescott Gem and Mineral rock show in the Findlay Toyota Center at 3201 North Main Street in Prescott Valley, AZ. The show runs from Friday to Sunday and there is a $5 entry fee. There is free dry camping for self contained RV’s at the show, or you can camp for free in Prescott National Forest. For more information, please email me at rexch8@yahoo.com with the subject “Prescott AZ field trip.”
A Geologic Tour of Australia, via Zoom, is featured presentation for Tues., May 18 Program Meeting; 6:30 p.m.
Join us for our May 18 Program Meeting as we explore Australia’s most iconic natural wonders and visit several geologic sites that are unfamiliar to most people. Our guests, Dick & Mary Pat Weber, are retired exploration geologists and will take us on the armchair trip. In 2007 and 2008 they spent a year on what they refer to as their “Rocks ‘n Crocs” tour of Australia looking at and photographing the natural features and geology of the largest country in Oceania.
For our May Rock of the Month talk, Mary Pat Weber will present an introduction to a lesser known member of the garnet family, the rare and highly prized green garnet, which gives emerald a run for its money.
The Tuesday, May 18 program meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to joenmar1[at]verizon.net in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. We hope to “see” you there!
Eastern Sierra Field Trip Saturday, May 15th, 2021
Forsaking the desert, we’ll head deep into the forests of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The PLS May field trip will be to the Obsidian Dome area where we will study the products of volcanic activity near Mammoth Lakes, CA. Geologically speaking, this volcanic activity is thought to have occurred fairly recently in the summer of 1350AD. This is a one day trip.
We will start at Obsidian Dome–a plateau with some small hills on top, littered with various sized pieces of obsidian. Most of the obsidian pieces at the Dome have tiny gas bubbles and aren’t gem quality but the shiny glass pieces almost glow in the morning sun.
We’ll head to Crowley Lake after touring the Dome to look for fist size chunks of obsidian and arrowheads in the hills overlooking the reservoir.
After that, we’ll stop at Hot Creek visitor center, visit the free hot tubs in the area and hopefully explore some mine tailings looking for minerals related to gold mining.
High clearance is recommended for this trip.
For more information, please contact Rex at rexch8@yahoo.com. Please put “Obsidian Dome field trip” in your subject line.
March 13 Sidewinder/Ord Mtn fieldtrip
Attendees of Pasadena Lapidary Society’s fieldtrip of Saturday, March 13 collected tricolor marble from the Sidewinder Mtn area and copper minerals from Ord Mountain.
Parked and ready to rock(hound). Vicinity of Ord Mountain.
Old mine shaft; Ord Mountain.
Careful collecting on hillside; Ord Mtn area.
Lavic Siding February 13th, 2021
Miles from Pasadena, about a third of the way between Barstow and Needles, is the sleepy town of Ludlow, CA. Most of the time, people never even notice it’s there, unaware that a well known jasper collecting area beckons in the blistering desert heat. Such is Ludlow most of the year.
Ludlow in the dead of winter is totally different. The ground is stripped of vegetation, blown away as tumbleweeds, or consumed by moisture-loving denizens of shifting desert sands. The barren landscape causes the jasper to magically appear on the desert floor waiting for us to pick it up. February’s trip will be on Saturday the 13th, to the renowned Lavic Railroad Siding jasper location near Ludlow, CA. Our meetup spot is 148 miles from Pasadena. We’ll meet there at 9 AM. Late arrivals will miss the fieldtrip. Read on for further information.
Since this is a semi-local trip, it will be for one day only. We’ll explore the traditional Lavic Jasper collecting areas and the brindle jasper location in the foothills north of Ludlow.
A high clearance vehicle is required for this trip, but 4wd is always better. Attendees will need to sign a waiver of liability. RSVP is required. Please email rexch8[at]yahoo.com for directions, inserting LAVIC FIELDTRIP in the subject field of your email.
QIA PowWow at Quartzsite, January 2021
Pasadena Lapidary Society member Sue Pang shared some pics she’d taken during her visit in January to the annual QIA PowWow in Quartzsite, AZ. Members who didn’t make it out there this year were certainly there in spirit, as we’re not just lapidarists; we’re ROCKHOUNDS. For those who don’t know, the QIA PowWow is a rockhound’s mega candy store.
Christmas Tree Agate
We couldn’t resist sharing pics of Christmas Tree Agate, found by a member of Pasadena Lapidary Society while out visiting the Southern Cady Mountains/Lavic Siding area.
North Cadys Fieldtrip; Nov. 27-29, 2020
PLS Members visited one of our favorite spots for gemstones in the North Cady Mountains, about three hours northeast of Pasadena, over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Cady Mountains have produced more gemstones than almost any other Southern California location and we explored the northern part of the range, looking for jasper, agate, fluorite, calcite, and amethyst in places where few rock hounds go. You can join us in the Cadys sometime in the future, by becoming a member of Pasadena Lapidary Society. Check out the photos below to see some of our finds.
Jasper agate
Calcite with fluorite
Mud tube agate
Orbicular red jasper
