December’s educational field trip will be at 8AM on Saturday, December 18th to Shoemaker Canyon Road above Azusa. We’ll be visiting the Tunnels to Nowhere, which were hewn out of solid granite in 1969. These tunnels were built to provide an escape route out of LA in case of nuclear attack. Now they sit vacant; a lone sentinel to times forgotten.
This trip is suitable for any passenger car and is 31 miles from Pasadena. The walk to tunnel is 2 miles with an elevation gain of 700 feet. We’ll be on the lookout for various ores and minerals, but this is more an educational/nature walk rather than a collecting trip. For more details, please contact Rex at rexch8@yahoo.com
Pasadena Lapidary Society’s very own future geologist/geophysicist, Paolo Sanchez, will present “Traces of Extinction: The Search for Rocks and Minerals at Chixculub” for our November program meeting. For those wondering what the heck ‘Chixculub Impact Event’ is, think meteor meets dinosaurs. Paolo will present his current ongoing research examining tektites derived from Chixculub and what their respective chemistries tell us about the minerals and lithologies associated with the impact event, with the potential of understanding the lithology of the meteor itself.
Earlier this year, Paolo was awarded the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies’ (CFMS) Robert O. Deidrich Memorial Fund Scholarship for school year 2020-21. He’s been studying geosciences at UC Berkeley, working his way up to a PhD and possibly obtaining a career as a professional researcher.
There will be no Rock of the Month discussion for this meeting.
The Tuesday, Nov. 16 program meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. To join us, send an email to (new email address!)… marcia.pls.emails[at]gmail.com in advance, using ‘PROGRAM MEETING’ in subject line, and request the Zoom meeting link. We’re looking forward to seeing Paolo – and hope to see you virtually as well!
Among some of our favorite rockhound travel guides are Dick and Mary Pat Weber. For the Tuesday, October 19 presentation, Mary Pat will take us on a Practical Guide to Urban Rockhounding in Tucson.
In a few months dealers, buyers, and collectors will gather together for the largest rockhound event in the world. You will find great bargains relating to all aspects of our hobby offered by vendors from all corners of the globe. If you can’t find it in Tucson, it probably doesn’t exist anywhere. According to Mary Pat, you will run out of money long before you cross off all the items on your wish list.
With over forty shows from which to choose, it can be a bit confusing for the first-timer. Mary Pat will offer practical advice for navigating though the “Tucson experience” to make it both efficient and fun. This program is jammed packed with photo highlights of the biggest club show in the world, including specimens from world class museums such as the Smithsonian and other private collections. If you’ve been thinking about visiting Tucson for the rockhound shows but have yet to, here’s a chance to see what they’re all about.
PLS member Mona Ross will provide October’s Rock of the Month talk on one of the world’s rarest gemstones, Grandidierite.
The Tuesday, Oct. 19 program meeting starts at 7:00 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. Hope to “see” you there!
On Saturday, September 25, 2021 , we’ll be headed to Stoddard Wells, CA, near Apple Valley. This outdoor rock show, which runs Sept. 24-26, is sponsored by the Victor Valley Gem and Mineral Club. It’s the 45th Annual Stoddard Wells Rockhound Tailgate. Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM daily.
Free event, everyone is welcome! FREE Vendor Spaces, dry camping, restrooms available. First come, first served. All donations welcomed. Handcrafted jewelry, cabs, slabs, rough, and more. Breakfast and lunch available. NO saving spaces or competing with VVGMS’s fundraising activities – i.e. food, drinks, grab bags, spin the wheel or auctions. Rain or Shine!! For the show itself, it’s especially important to follow “Tailgate” signs to the show site, as the meetup location for the fieldtrip is 1/2 mile away.
Saturday field trip 9:30 – 11:30 AM is slated to target tri-color marble. Meet at Tailgate location per map and instructions below at 8:45 am. 4WD is required. Must RSVP to field trip leader, Rex, at rexch8@yahoo.com with the subject line “Tailgate field trip.”
Tri-Color Marble photos above courtesy of PLS member Rex N.
Directions:
From I—15 Northbound towards Barstow: Hwy 15 North THRU Victorville! EXIT at 2nd Stoddard Wells Rd at BELL Mtn. (EXIT # 157). Turn Left/East at Ramp STOP sign. STAY on Stoddard Wells Road 4 mi. until next STOP sign at Dale Evans Pkwy. Observe “Tailgate” signs high on NW corner power pole. Check Odometer here! Continue Straight on Stoddard Wells Rd. 7 miles to “Tailgate”. Road becomes a graded dirt road about 4/10 mi. from the Dale Evans Pkwy intersection. Proceed East/NE past “Grange” fork to “Tailgate” site. Cars & RVs can make it w/ease & care; go slow and watch out for potholes. Please look for “Tailgate” signs along route. Need clarification? Visit https://vvgmc.org/tailgate.html
Join us Tuesday, June 15 for a journey through the deep Earth, with Dr. Krista Sawchuk. The deep Earth, which encompasses the mantle and core, makes up 99% of our planet. Because we can’t physically go to the deep Earth, scientists employ a variety of techniques to learn more about it. Dr. Sawchuk will share what we do know about the deep Earth and how her research on the behavior of minerals at high pressures and temperatures is helping us learn more about the chemistry of the mantle.
Dr. Sawchuk recently graduated from UCLA with a PhD in geochemistry. Her dissertation research focused on the high-pressure behavior and chemical reactions of volatile-bearing minerals in Earth’s mantle. Since graduating, she started a postdoctoral research position at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico where she continues her high-pressure research. In her spare time she enjoys mineral collecting and curating her personal mineral collection.
The Tuesday, June 15 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!
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!
March’s field trip will be a return to the Sidewinder Mountains. High clearance or short wheelbase vehicles are recommended for this trip. 2wd is okay. Those with passenger vehicles might need to be shuttled when we get close to the collecting sites. We’ll be searching for both tri-color marble (pictured above) and blue marble. Tri-color marble is a beautiful green, black, and white material and is perfect for yard rock and spheres. It’s also a good beginner material for making cabochons. We’ll also explore tailings piles in the Ord Mountains for chrysocolla and malachite.
Our last stop will be to the Prime Cut Rock Show in Lucerne Valley.
Please email Rex at rexch8@yahoo.com for updates and additional information.
Join us for our next virtual general meeting on Tuesday, February 16th. We will be joined by our friend, Professor George R. Rossman. Professor Rossman will highlight the troubled history of Ametrine. Specifically, he will discuss the controversy that developed about ametrine early on, and his personal experience traveling to Brazil amethyst mines, the Bolivia ametrine mine, and Russia where synthetic ametrine was produced. RSVP to joenmar1[at]verizon.net for a Zoom meeting link, using ‘AMETRINE’ in subject line.
The Rock of the Month will be presented by PLS member Phil Lahr, who will discuss “Tumbling through the Pandemic” – a personal journey of rock tumbling triumphs and tragedies during the summer of 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.
