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A Quick Two Hours in The North Nopah

Last week I discovered some outbuildings to an old mine on the east side of this particular hill in the North Nopah WA. Today, I was trying to find some clues to the west side claims that make up the old Nopah Group. No luck today, the heat too great to stay out too long.
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A little video and some stills of a quick hike into the North Nopah WA this morning. #geology #roadtrip #quartz #hiking #rocks#rockhounding#inyocounty#pahrump#mines#minerals#explore#getoutdoors#mojavedesertcalifornia

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I always want to climb into canyons, even if they dead end, take hours to explore, or prove nearly impossible to come back down. #mojavedesert #quartz #rockhound #hiking #roadtrip#inyocounty#mining#prospecting #nopahwilderness

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Pretty country when it’s not trying to kill you. #mojavedesert #prospecting #geology #hiking #rocks#inyocounty#roadtrip#pahrump#geologyrocks#limestone #nopahwilderness

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Last notes for today from the field. Quartzite shown dry in the video, dry and wet in the still photos. #geology #quartz #rockhound #hiking #explore#lapidary#mojave#mojavedesert#pahrump#explore#inyocounty#nopahwilderness #

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Nye and Inyo County

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Some of the drive in to the China Ranch Date Farm. Dash cam failed to record what may have been a gray fox crossing the road. I’ll get that camera figured out today. #chinaranchdatefarm #tecopa#geology roadtrip#inyocounty#nopahrange#roadtrip

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Out in Inyo County, California today. This is a working date palm farm with a gift shop and a kitchen that makes baked goods and date shakes. Only a few miles from Immigrant a Pass in the South Nopah Range. #inyocounty#roadtrip#palmtrees#desertoasis #oasis#mojavedesert#tecopa#deathvalley

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Gift shop at the farm. The parking lot is a trailhead for many hikes. We were the only ones there during our visit, the ranch is usually bustling with customers. #roadtrip#palmtrees#oasis#desert#armagosavalley #tecopa#deathvalley

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At the Museum. Open after an 11 week shutdown ordered by our beloved governor. Some hands on exhibits still not operating, again, by order of a state government that knows what is best for us. #pahrump #roadtrip#nevada#rocks#yuccamountainproject #radiation#nyecounty#history#

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Tuff. Learn it, live it, love it. #geology #roadtrip #geology rocks#volcanics #pahrump#museums#nyecounty#nevada#yuccamountainproject #rocks #tuff#

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The quixotic town of Blue Diamond, named after the hill of the same name. Gypsum mine nearby. At the far south end of the Red Rock National Conservation Area. #gypsum#clarkcounty#bluediamondnevada #roadtrip

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In The North Nopah

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Going to take a hike to get to the old Mary Ann Mine. No problem. #rockhounding#geology#minerals#fluorescentminerals #zinc #inyocounty

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This comment is from R.C., a practicing geologist who taught me never to say granite unless I was absolutely certain, true granite relatively uncommon. Best to say something is granitic. Hi Tom, You have a granitic porphyry. The pink rectangles are large crystals of feldspar that formed at depth. It’s the first mineral to crystallize. Then the magma was moved closer to the surface, cooled more rapidly, so the other minerals didn’t have time to form very large crystals. The pink feldspar crystals are phenocrysts, from Greek for “visible crystals.” Neat rock. #geology#granite #nopahrangewilderness #inyocounty#rockhounding#geologistonboard#feldspar#minerals

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I can’t remember how many abandoned roads I have followed like this one. Fortunately, there will always be thousands more. #geology #roadtrip #prospecting#quartz#tocks#rockhounding#exploring#wilderness#mining#inyocounty

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Road to the Mary Ann Mine. I hope. No vehicular traffic allowed in a Wilderness Area. Next is limestone with a solution surface. Recent desert tortoise den. GLO monument showing township, range, and section. Last photo. A million rocks to look over. One rockhound. The odds are even. #rockhound #rockhounding#limestone#geology#deserttortoise #generallandofficesurvey #inyocounty#nopahrangewilderness #wildernessarea

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Did You See The New Gallery?

New Gallery

Update! - June 3, 2023

My good friend Linda Dodge has gone ’round the rock garden to take pictures of rocks and description signs I  missed. She has also taken better pictures in many cases of rocks I had already photographed. 78 photos in total, of which I suspect at least twenty will be posted here. Time to start processing. Captions will take a long time to do.

Original Article Below:

I’m still working on it but a new gallery is up, this one on the rock garden at U.C. Davis in Davis, California..

Parking is expensive at U.C. Davis during the weekdays ($10!?) but you can use that parking pass all over campus. Have a picnic in the Shields Oak Grove where I volunteered for many years. All of the arboretum is first class.

They have a fine equestrian center and if you are quiet and not too suspicious looking, you can walk through the stables and consider whether you really want to own a Percheron.

Most campus buildings are probably closed to the public, but when they reopen there are a variety of places to eat. You don’t need to be staff or a student to eat at most of them.

There’s a science library, a law library, and a main library.

If you have a bicycle you will fit right in.

Updates

My friend the practicing geologist confirms that I indeed found leucogranite with altered garnet in the Utah Hill area and that it is suitable for study use. I go back to the area this week to look for a pegmatite pocket. Follow me on Instagram, that’s where I report on my field trips.

 06-23-2020

Rolf Luetke has closed Sunshine Gifts and Gallery until further notice. Business is too slow because of the pandemic.

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Consolidated Rock and Mineral in Vacaville, California

Consolidated Rock and Mineral

5115 Quinn Rd
Vacaville, California 95688
707-448-5525

38°23.675′ N 121°55.615′ W

I’ve been going here since the late 1960s when I was a kid. I’m not a kid any longer and I am still going. Ask if you don’t see what you are looking for. Or ask if they have a less expensive specimen if something on a shelf is too much. They have many things underneath the counter or in back. They keep their radioactive minerals off the main floor, for example, so be sure to ask to see them.

A little difficult to find because it is on a frontage road. A metal sided building tucked into oleanders. The parking lot won’t be possible for RVs or trailers so you may have to walk in a ways. No public bathrooms, you may want to use the fast food places nearby at the freeway which is I-80.

Great winter hours!

This URL might work, otherwise, Google:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Consolidated-Rock-Mineral-Shop-Ll-C/136668809715266

Google map link:

https://goo.gl/maps/a5XdX6PM5KC5KRrQ6

Click on an image TWICE to get the full picture. One click simply produces a thumbnail. Click on the thumbnail to get the full size photo.

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