On Friday of that same week, we returned to Rockhound State Park for our regularly scheduled day, but I've already shown you stuff from there.
On Saturday, we drove out to another thunderegg location on the flank of the Little Floridas. We had previously been to this location in 2006. It was then that we made the mistake of busting apart most of what we found looking crystal vugs (geodes). We discovered then and since that the vast majority of the thundereggs from this location are solid and contain fantastic chalcedony interiors that are best displayed when cut on a rock saw. So, we were there this time to take them home whole. I also wanted to find a BIG thunderegg like the last time we were there, only this time I'd bring it home for cutting instead of busting it apart with my sledge as I had done before.
The road to the thunderegg location was rocky, but passable with 4-wheel drive. I did manage to rip off the electrical trailer connector going through one particularly bad wash. The relatively LONG length of our Toyota Tundra makes dragging the rear end a problem when driving perpendicularly through narrow deep washes. But, half a roll of electrical tape, and the connector was good to go and it was time to dig!
We dug down into the weathered rhyolite and found lots of thundereggs, including one about the size of a volleyball. I'll have to find someone with a big rock saw to cut open this bad boy, but I did cut some of the smaller ones that I could manage on our 12-incher, and the following are two of the best - we are especially pleased with one that contains an interior chamber filled with sparkling smoky quartz!
