Follow me on Instagram. Writing over there means I can cut and paste to produce a post here. No writing twice. My eyes are still bothered by big displays and i must limit my screen time.
Little cooler today so I hiked out to the Nancy Ann Mine with my heavy shortwave field lamp to do a nighttime fluorescent mineral hunt. Saw this rattler just in time to step back. Still close enough to get rattled at. #hiking#mining#inyocounty#flourescent #rocks#geology#mojavedesert
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Further up the trail. #geology #roadtrip #rockhound #inyocounty #hiking#minerals#mining #prospecting#
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Glow sticks mark off important points. They’re not meant to illuminate but these from Home Depot are very bright. I came back with a headlamp, of course. #desert#mojave#mojavedesert#rocks #geology #minerals #inyocounty #hiking#explore
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Unedited bat footage. Fairly recent maps call this the Shaw Mine when in actuality there are a number of entrances and the name has changed from owner to owner. Open ground now that is in Wilderness status and only walking permitted. No bicycles, no handcarts, no machines of any kind. #nopahwilderness #roadtrip #geology#inyocounty #pahrump #mojavedesert #hiking
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A few nice red pieces but nearly everything else is yellow calcite that fluoresces under SW and LW. The red material only fluoresces SW. You can see in the first few seconds that even my Dragonfly won’t light up this side of the rock but then SW gives a nice red. The other side glows the usual calcite yellow. #flourescent #hiking #mojavedesert#geology #geologyrocks #mining #minerals #inyocounty#nopahrange
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I’m always hesitant about leaving my vehicle at night near a major road. I turned off my headlamp a quarter mile before the trailhead and walked with only moonlight in case something was waiting. No one at the vehicle but very loud music from another vehicle a hundred yards away out in the creosote, the first human activity I’ve encountered at this trailhead. I had my keys in hand and motored away in seconds. I’m sure those people were friendly but I wasn’t going to chance it at night and beyond cell phone range. My sat phone would need a few minutes to connect. I might not have had that time. #mohave #desert#hiking#explore#geology#geologyrocks#mining#history #inyocounty#
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Making my way back. #geology #roadtrip #rockhound #hiking ##mining#nopahrange#inyocounty#explore#geology#desert#mojavedesert
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Unedited handheld iPhone video. SW. Properly photographing fluorescent minerals takes a tripod and hours of fiddling to get the colors correctly displaying what they actually show under a lamp. The blue rock shows the infamous blue bleed that every photographer fights against, it is a problem between camera settings and the lamps themselves. Getting every rock in a group to show correctly on your screen is a major project, a great deal done in post. Too much time in post! #ecplore#geology#flourescent #minerals#madness#desert#mojavedesert#inyocounty
I walked the edges of the gully going up, walked in the gully going down. No sign of anything man made on the way up until I got to the top. Disturbed ground actually just bare, exposed limestone. What they did on top would have only taken a trail. Audio boosted on all of today’s videos, the good mike is packed away somewhere with the other stuff I am moving. #geology #roadtrip#geologyrocks#explore#pahrump #inyocounty#nopahrangewilderness
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Working up the canyon. Setting my go back point. Or, I was. #geology #quartz #rockhound #hiking #geologyrocks #nopahwilderness#inyicounty#explore#nature#adventure#outside
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This was my stopping point until I saw higher ground. I bag all peaks. But it turned out to be a fairly wide, broad area of ground with interesting things all around. Next video. #geology #roadtrip #rockhound #hiking #rocks#geologistonboard #outdoors#nature#pahrump#inyocounty
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Unknowingly at this point, I am probably a hundred feet or more above an old working of the Nancy Ann Mine. It has to be below my feet which I’ll get to in another video. Check out the lichen following cracks or fracture lines in these nearby rocks. #geology #geologyrocks #geologistonboard#nopah#pahrump#explore#hiking#mojave#desert#mojavedesert#rocks
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These limestone hills may naturally contain many voids. These were big enough to sleep in. Absolutely no litter anywhere. What I found next was undoubtedly the opening to an air shaft for a mine below, probably well below. I’m unaware of any caves in these hills but entrances these days are not publicized except to a few in the spelunking community or whatever they call themselves. #geology #quartz #rockhound #hiking #explore#outdoors#nopahwilderness #pahrump
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Sorry this isn’t in portrait view. Above the shelters I heard a continuous noise on this fairly windless day. Did not have my external mike. Huge amount of bees around this opening. Constant wind noise which I usually hear from a mine with an unblocked opening somewhere. You tell me, air shaft for the mine or from a cave? People were definitely up here and though it doesn’t look like a man made opening, I’m thinking it could be little else. Could not feel any wind because of the bees preventing me from getting close but that has to be wind noise, coming or going. I wonder if there is moisture below and hence the bees. You tell me! #mines#geology#rocks#caves#limestone#exploring#tunnels#nopah#bees#desert#mojave#inyocounty#geologistonboard#geologyrocks#adventure
The drive down China Ranch Road into and through the China Ranch Wash is dramatic. Limited turn-around for any RV pulling a car or trailer. Small RVs can probably find parking at the main parking lot.
No cell coverage! You must be self-reliant in the desert. Perhaps a quarter of the continental United States does not have cell phone service. You can read about my practicing with a satellite terminal that provides voice calls here: https://southwestrockhounding.com/sat-fi2-and-spot-x/
China Ranch Road from Thomas Farley on Vimeo.
— Here’s the shorter video for those with shorter attention spans:
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China Ranch Road to the China Ranch Date Farm at Instagram speed. The real time, four minute video called China Ranch Road’ is now at Vimeo and YouTube. I have no part in any YouTube ads, I have no ads at my website and nothing to sell. #geologistonboard#tecopa#chinaranch#inyocounty#roadtrip#palms#mojavedesert #armogosavalley
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More from the BLM trails starting at the China Ranch Date Farm parking lot. The Ranch and the Nature Conservancy have contributed mightily toward sustaining this area. #tecopa#natureconservancy #areaofcriticalenvironmentalconcern #mesquite#tonopahandtidewaterrailroad #chinaranchdatefarm #inyocounty#
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Back at China Ranch. Armagosa Tiver, mesquite bosque, old railroad bed. #roadtrip#geology #rocks#river#armagosa#inyocounty#mesquite#tecopa#mojavedesert#oasis#palmtrees#datepalms
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Kit Carson approved! Bread is great as well as the date shakes which are more ice cream than date. Despite the lush appearance of the trees, mesquite will tear you apart with its thorns and it is impossible to cross. Still, good cover for birds and pretty to look at from a distance. The drive down the road is terrific fun and worth doing several times. Also, walk through the palm trees themselves. Bring cash in small bills. Free admission so please buy something to support the ranch. Thank you. #tecopa#chinaranchdatefarm #inyocounty#roadtrip#
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Museum building closed, rock tour open. #geology #quartz #rockhound #rocks#roadtrip
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The Shoshone Museum Rock Display outside the Museum in Shoshone, California. Other nice but unlabeled rocks nearby as well. #geolgy #geologyrocks #geologistonboard #rocks#minerals#roadtrip#shoshone#tecopa#inyocounty#deathvalleyregion#museums#rockgarden#
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In Shoshone. Details to follow. Beautiful day on the desert. #shoshone#deathvalley#roadtrip#inyocounty #geolgy
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
