After a wonderful afternoon at RSP, we drove to the Lordsburg KOA where we set up our Coleman pop-up camper. The campground is located in a "sketchy" part of town and we received what we perceived as a less than outgoing greeting from the attendant upon arrival, but it served our purpose for the next several nights - although high winds for most of this period would test our resolve.
Our plan for the next couple days was to visit Round Mountain Rockhounding Area (RMRA), about an hour's drive from Lordsburg and just over the border in Arizona. RMRA is administered by the U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is known to contain fire agate, white chalcedony, quartz and chalcedony geodes.
We left the hardtop of Hwy-70 and headed down Lazy B Ranch road, that seemed like a dirt road superhighway, at least for the first few miles. After that, it got a bit rocky and bumpy in stretches, but stayed two-wheel drive passable for all for the entire 12 miles to RMRA.
Road to Round Mountain
Looking South at Penloncillo Mts and Bobcat Hills
Except for the high winds, the two days spent hiking up, down and around RMRA were strenuous but enjoyable. Chrissy and I greatly enjoy the wide open spaces of the Southwest.
Round Mountain from nearby ridge (center right)
It was amazing how much ground we could cover in what seemed like a relatively short period of time. Look close in the following picture - the small spot in the bottom center is our truck!
Westward view from Round Mountain
Chrissy on the hunt
It didn't take Opal long to remember a couple painful run ins with cacti and other prickly plants, so she steered clear of both. A cold front brought with it high winds and a much cooler than normal temperature; the 65-degrees would have been perfect had it not been for constant strong winds that were tiring. But, don't get me wrong, we enjoyed the heck out of both days spent roaming around RMRA.
The Streeter family on top of Round Mountain
And if hiking around and enjoying the scenery weren't all that we needed to feel fortunate to be alive, we found LOTS of goodies, including a bunch of quartz crystal-filled, mostly white and highly fluorescent chalcedony geodes.
Click on each specimen picture to enlarge
Fire agate can be found at RMRA , but since neither Chrissy or had much experience hunting for it, it is likely that we left a bunch on the ground. But, we did drag home a few potential pieces and I cut the following cabochons.
Cabochon pictures do not enlarge
I also cut the following cab from a piece of common brown and white chalcedony and quartz.
Report continued . . . . . . .
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