On our way over to another mine, we stopped to talk to a couple old gentlemen whom we had watched drive in and park near one of Eddie's turquoise claims. Actually, Eddie did most of the talking, as it turned out he knew one of them by reputation, while Chrissy, Sheryl and I picked through a couple large piles of broken rock looking for errant turquoise. It didn't take long for us to discover rocks with very thin veins of green to blue-green turquoise.
Click on specimen picture to enlarge
Sheryl suggested that I take some of the rocks home to see if I could make some turquoise in rock cabochons - these types of cabs are referred to by some as "ribbon turquoise" and can be quite beautiful. As you can see in the following pictures, I took Sheryl up on her suggestion and boy am I glad I did.
(Cabochon pictures do not enlarge)
After Eddie finally wound down his talking and we secured LOTS of ribbon turquoise rocks, we headed off to another mine where he thought we should be able to recover some rocks with very nice pyrite, chalcopyrite and garnet. Well, Eddie was right as you can see in the following pictures!
Click on specimen pictures to enlarge
Recovering the above specimens was extremely strenuous, so it wasn't long after that we again called it a day - man, days sure go fast when you're having so much fun and it gets dark at 5:30 PM.
Our fifth and final day in the Orogrande mining district started early. Although Sheryl had to work and couldn't be there, Eddie showed up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Our plan was to visit a couple more of his claims in the northern part of the district. Eddie had read in a geological publication that petrified wood was found in a certain area, but had as yet been able to find it, albeit he hadn't yet looked very hard. He showed me the publication and I agreed with him that the the petrified wood location, as detailed by section, township and range, was near one of his claims.
We drove a long and sometimes iffy dirt road to Eddie's claim. After checking the area and rocks around an abandoned mine shaft, I suggested that we head up slope toward a ridge to see what we could find. I checked the washes for petrified wood, while Eddie and Chrissy hunted the open areas. It didn't take long before I heard Eddie exclaim, "Damn, I found it!". He was right, he located a nice size stump sticking right up out of the ground! Way to go Eddie!
Click on specimen pictures to enlarge
While Eddie and I extracted a few pieces of wood, Chrissy came back with some travertine she found just laying on the ground surface.
Click on specimen picture to enlarge
We stopped collecting around mid-day and headed back to Alamagordo so that we could get ready to break camp in the morning. We planned to drive north and set up at the Valley of Fires National Recreation Area near Carrizozo.
We woke up too early as usual and had plenty of time to do our big pile of laundry at the campground. Five straight days of collecting makes for lots of dirty clothes. After that, the only activities resembling work we had to accomplish that day was to take down the camper, drive about 1-1/2 hours to the Valley of Fires and set up camp - mostly a much needed day of rest.
West View from Valley of Fires Campground
The Valley of Fires recreation area is located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.
The recreation area has 19 campsites with picnic shelters, tables, grills, and potable water at each site. RV electric hookups are available at 14 sites. Two sites are wheel chair accessible. The full facility bathroom is fully accessible and has showers. Vault toilets are available throughout the park.
Chrissy & Opal at Campsite
East View from Valley of Fires Campground
West View from Valley of Fires Campground Hill
Although Carrizozo is the Lincoln County seat, it does not have a grocery store, so after we set up the camper, we drove 23 miles east to Capitan (home of Smoky Bear) to procure enough groceries to hold us over for the next five days. We were pleased to find that the Capitan grocery store is excellent. We were even more pleased to grab burgers and fries at the Smoky Bear restaurant - yep, we were tourists on vacation, alright.
After relaxing for the remainder of the afternoon, we were treated to a brilliant sunset that set the eastern sky ablaze before lighting up the western horizon.
Report continued . . . . . . .
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