Kris Rowe, front and center, surrounded by PLS members from L to R, Liz, Sue, Steve and Shirley. Photograph provided by Sue Pang.
The February program meeting will feature Kris Rowe, a lifelong rockhound and 40+ year field geologist, who will present a talk on Rockhounding in the Mojave. Kris has led fieldtrips throughout California for decades, with many outings focused in the Clear Creek area and all over the Mojave Desert. Recent trips have been out to the hills of Hinkley, CA to a private turquoise claim, near where the picture at right was taken. During the Thanksgiving 2022 week, Kris led a 9-day long ‘Odyssey’ to numerous sites including the South Cadys, Lavic Siding, Opal Mountain and Boron. He can be found on Facebook as ‘Roadside Rockhound‘.
This program meeting takes place on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007.
Come join us! Doors open at 6:30, admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. We hope to see you there!
The January 17th, 2023 Pasadena Lapidary Society Program Meeting will feature Dick Weber, who will introduce us to the colorful world of Fluorite. Due to a spectacular range of colors and well-developed crystals, this mineral is highly sought after by collectors. Clear and colorless when pure, fluorite can exhibit every color of the spectrum from the deepest purple to bright oranges and reds. In addition to its aesthetic and scientific value, fluorite is a critical industrial mineral used in the production of thousands of commercial products.
Dick Weber was first introduced to the fluorite deposits of the Mississippi Valley while working on his geology degree. Actively collecting specimens for the last 15 years, he will bring a display showcasing pieces from famous locales.
PLS member Curtis Schurer will present the second part of his Rock of the Month Talk on Jasper.
This program meeting takes place at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007.
Join us for an illuminating evening as we begin our 2023 Program Meetings! Admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. See you there!
Join us at our Tuesday, October 18 Program Meeting where award-winning mixed-media artist Linda Queally will discuss the rich history of Pearls in the Americas, and how they’ve been associated with Mermaids since the first Siren’s Song was heard.
Linda works in acrylic and fine art paper on claybord in her vibrant mystical paintings, and with cultured pearls and mixed metals in her simple, elegant jewelry designs. She studied Art and Design at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, is a Certified Pearl Specialist with the Cultured Pearl Association of America, and holds a Certificate of Gemology from Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
This program meeting takes place at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007.
Join us for an enchanting evening! Admission is free; open to the public. Enjoy refreshments while checking out the display table; bring a rock specimen you’d like identified. See you there!
The August general meeting will feature a talk by member Paolo Sanchez who will focus on large-scale landscape geology. The presentation should be helpful for understanding Earth science, and to an extent, minerals, from the viewpoint of the window seat of a plane. While flying across the state and the country, Paolo took many pictures of geologic landscapes. He plans to talk about prominent geologic features such as the San Andreas Fault, Cascade Volcanoes, and the Colorado Plateau. We hope to see you there!
This program meeting is at 7:00 p.m. at Fellowship Hall of The Santa Anita Church, 226 W. Colorado Blvd., Arcadia, CA 91007. Come to learn and make new friends; open to the public, free admission.
Flint Knap-In and Paleo Tool Demonstration at Chilao School in Angeles National Forest
The July 2022 Field Trip will feature an educational visit to Chilao School, 40 minutes from La Canada. (Note that Chilao School and Chilao campground are different locales.)Chilao School is located next to the US Forest Service Chilao Fire Station. To get to Chilao School from La Canada, take Angeles Crest Highway 25.1 miles to the Chilao Campground loop. Turn left into the campground. Drive .9 miles past the Little Pines and Manzanita loops and turn left at Mt Hillyer Road (3N141). Proceed down 3N141 for .5 miles to Chilao School. The one room school is on the right BEFORE you get to the fire station. Some of the roads may not have names on them, so please look at the map before starting your journey.
Though the field trip is Saturday only, we’ll be camping ¼ mile down the road at Chilao campground on Friday night so we can get an early start on Saturday. There will be a potluck at the school or campground on Saturday night. Expect daytime temperatures in the 80’s and nighttime lows in the 50’s. If you want to camp overnight, you should arrive ASAP on Friday afternoon to claim a campsite. Better yet, arrange with someone who is going to be up there on Friday morning to reserve you a spot. Campground use is heavy especially in the summer. The cost is $12 a night. Water is provided along with a vault toilet. Note that the Station Fire ravaged Chilao about 13 years ago and new trees are now starting to repopulate the area.
We’ll be learning how to make spear tips, arrowheads, hatchets, and knives similar to what prehistoric man used thousands of years ago. This paleo tool get-together is casual; there is no schedule for instruction, hence there is no official meet up time. You can arrive and go when you please. I recommend getting there by 10AM.
I’ll bring obsidian slabs to practice on. You can contact me at rexch8@yahoo.com.
There is no charge, but a small donation to the nonprofit Redbird/Chilao Visions is recommended. Our hosts are Corina Roberts, founder of Redbird, and Gary Pickett, flint knapping artist.
GPS coordinates for Chilao School: 34.3341764547053, -118.02406758638696
Unlike fishing, the good thing about rock hounding is you pretty much never get skunked. Here’s my fishing-for-rock report from the Thanksgiving 2021 weekend field trip to Baxter Wash, near Baker, CA.
Weather: Light winds, temperatures 75/40
Sea (Road) Conditions: heavy sand 12” deep or more. 4wd definitely required
Anglers (Rock hounds): 13
Species caught (rocks found)
Angel wing agate
Green angel wing agate
Lace agate
Top Notch agate
Blue agate nodules
This nodule is about the size of a baseball!
Sagenite
There’s better sagenite where this came from but you gotta’ dig for it!
Amydules and chalcedony extrusions
Morning sunlight on chalcedony extrusion
Marble and green/purple fluorite
Emerald Green Fluorite (photo by Gabe Morley)
Entertainment value: limits for all
Kids and campfires
Cost-free
If I don’t see you in December, be sure to join PLS for the upcoming 2022 field trip season!
We’ve got an exciting feature presentation slated for Tuesday, July 20, 2021 when Gene McDevitt, explorer, entrepreneur, lapidary artist takes us on an armchair trip to Queensland, Australia for Koroit Boulder Opal mining. In addition to Koroit Opal, Gene cuts and wholesales other interesting stones such as Mooka Jasper (Mookaite), Noreena Jasper, Tiger Eye, and Rutilated Quartz, among others.
Gene McDevitt, Professional Miner and Cutter. Koroit opal miner since 2001. Photos used with permission from Gene McDevitt.
The Tuesday, July 20 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. This virtual rock hunting journey is not to be missed… hope you can join us!
Obsidian is a popular lapidary material to collect and cut. Join Pasadena Lapidary Society at the April general meeting, as lapidary artist Terry Wilson takes us on a virtual trip to Davis Creek and other obsidian collecting locations, updating us on collecting site regulations. Terry will share tips on how to inspect the obsidian in the field and back at home. She will also demonstrate how to line up, slab and cab the material to bring out the best of their unique optical properties, including how to cut a cab exhibiting the cat-eye effect.
Obsidian with Silver sheen banding.
Snowflake Obsidian
The April Rock of the Month will be presented by geologist, Dick Weber. Dick will take us on a tour of a hidden treasure: the Petrified Wood museum of Nebraska.
Join us virtually for the April 20 Tuesday night meeting by RSVPing to joenmar1[at]verizon.net for a Zoom meeting link, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line.
A peek inside one of the display cases at the QIA PowWow 2021, held last month.
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.
A Noreen Jasper slab from Australia fills the bottom of this lovely pine needle basket, created by Pamela Caskey. Pamela has taught other basket weavers.
Vendors George and Sharon hold spiderweb stromatolite at last month’s QIA PowWow in Quartzsite.
Artist Pamela Caskey developed a way to set pictures in resin to use them as basket bases.
Polished slab base in basket and lovely pendants below were on display at the QIA PowWow in Quartzsite last month.
One of the many unusual stones offered by vendors at the annual QIA PowWow in Quartzsite, AZ… leopard agate
Some sizable chunks of beautiful Lapis Lazuli, at vendor booth of a past year’s QIA PowWow in Quartzsite.
