The Ventura Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. (VGMS)

Field Trips 1997 Archive.

Table of Contents.

1. JANUARY - MATURANGO MUSEUM;
2. JANUARY - Excerpts from PREPARATIONS FOR A FIELD TRIP;
3. JANUARY - Excerpts from FIELD TRIP PLANNING;
4. MARCH - FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!!! Point Mugu;
5. MAY - FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!!! St. Francis Dam and Tick Canyon;
6. SEPTEMBER - PREPARING FOR A FIELD TRIP, by Chuck McKie;
7. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER -FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! Jalama Beach;
8. DECEMBER - FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! Benitoite -- California's gemstone.

January.

MATURANGO MUSEUM.
     Death Valley Tourist Center, Little Petroglyph Canyon. This is a fascinating trip well worth your while. This is something you can do on your own or get a group and try for a date. There is a brochure and form attached to the bulletin for more information and instructions for applying for a date. Good luck and let us know if you go! Steve and Susan Mulqueen have been accepted for May.

Table of Contents.

Excerpts from PREPARATIONS FOR A FIELD TRIP by Chuck McKie, CFMS Field Trip North.
     When do you plan to go? Before the time can be determined, the "what" must have been decided and agreed upon, and "where" must have been planned by the availability of your chosen subject to collect.
     If it is to the ocean to collect whalebone, seashells, etc. plan to go when there is low tide.
     If it is to the mountains, plan for a time of better weather, late spring, or summer.
     If it is to the desert, plan on spring or fall. Summer could be sizzling hot and winter could be very cold and stormy.
     If the roads are dusty, close all windows and it is desirable to tape all access holes to prevent accumulating dust in the interior.
     Is the road steep, narrow, and/or rugged? Determine if four wheeled vehicles are necessary.
     Let your club members know when the trip is planned way ahead of time, so that every one can make plans to go.
     CFMS has a book of maps to collecting areas, however it is out of date, now that so many collecting sites have been closed. It is being updated, but is not yet ready. Use one of the CFMS maps or make your own to the area.
     Don't forget to let your club members know what you are collecting, what to wear, or bring along, what tools will be needed, will they need heavy sacks or little boxes and tissue to put their specimens in, will there be a pot luck, pancake breakfast, when they are meeting, when they are leaving, etc.
          Contributed by Florence Meisenheimer,
          Federation Director.

Table of Contents.

Excerpts from FIELD TRIP PLANNING by Chuck McKie, CFMS Field Trip North Chairman.
     Without adequate planning, you can not have a really good trip. After you decide what you will look for and collect on your field trip, ask yourself why you want this material. Do you wish to make spheres? Then you need to know the size of material available. Clock faces? That also requires large sized rocks.
     Jewelry items, such as cabochons for belt buckles, rings, etc.? For these you only need fairly small pieces of rock. If you want mineral specimens, perhaps you would need to contact a mine or quarry operator for permission to collect. Also, what do you plan to do with the item? Very few of us collect merely to enlarge our back yard conglomeration. Do you plan to share with others in your club who may not be physically able to accompany you on the field trip, or maybe they have to work. This means you could reasonably take extra for them; otherwise let's leave some for those who will come after us.
     If your destination is a mineral area, you should have soft material in which to wrap the specimens, perhaps an egg carton to separate the prize pieces, and a marking pen and paper with which to properly identify each piece. Take a magnifying glass in order to see the micro crystals that many wish to collect.
     If you are collecting agate, jasper, onyx, etc., take the appropriate tools. Geodes in volcanic ash would mean a large shovel, pick, and perhaps a small hand shovel or military surplus pick are the best tools of choice. Rocks in seams require chisels, different weights of sledges from 1 lb. to 10 lb. or more. For these common rocks take bags or boxes to carry them in.
     Picking up "float" (rocks on top of the ground) is fairly easy. A rock pick is needed.
     And that brings us to the clothing issue. Good walking shoes, preferably boots, are necessary. Doctors now are advising everyone to wear hats that cover their ears for the prevention of skin cancer. Wear goggles if you will be pounding on chisels or rocks. A flying chip could ruin your eyesight. Always bring a coat. Weather can be very changeable. You may not need it, but it could ruin your trip if you don't have one.

Table of Contents.

March.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!!! Point Mugu.
     March the 9th was a great day for a field trip. Twenty two of us enjoyed the warm sun and magnificent surf at Point Mugu. We all learned about the geological history of the area including a well defined fault line, the igneous dikes of the Conejo volcanics and the effect of the surf on the original road around Mugu Rock. From here we went down the coast about a mile to the collecting location. We went down to the boulders at the surf line to find fossiliferous limestone (the correct geological term according to Steve Mulqueen). The rockhound term is "Coquina". It is a nice grey/black matrix with white shell fragments. It is easy material to work with and we plan to use a lot of it during the lapidary workshop at the show in June. Everyone went home with pounds and pounds of rocks.
     For April we have another great trip planned to the St. Francis dam site in the Santa Clara River valley and the Howlite collecting site in Sand Canyon. Steve Mulqueen gives an outstanding talk on the history of the construction and eventual failure of the dam. It was one of the major disasters of this century. It's exciting to see the site and have Steve explain the geological features that led to the structural failure.
     We plan to have lunch on the rocks (bring your own and lots of water) and then head over to the Howlite collecting site. Wear climbing boots or sturdy sneakers and long pants. It will probably be quite warm, but dress in layers! You will also need a regular rock hammer and small pick and, of course, sacks to carry your collection. There are a lot of other borate minerals there as well as volcanic material that has some excellent vugs filled with the mineral Naturalite. We need lots of Howlite for the lapidary workshop at the show. So plan on coming on this all day trip.
     The trip is planned for Saturday, April 19th. We will leave at 8am from the parking lot across from the American Legion Hall. For those of you that need a ride or would like to carpool - see you there. At 9am we will rendezvous at the K-Mart parking lot at the corner of Valencia Blvd. and Bouquet Canyon Rd. in Santa Clarita (just down the road from Magic Mountain). From there we will go to the St. Francis dam site on San Francisquito Canyon Road and then on to Sand Canyon. We should be back in Ventura at 4pm.
     In May we will go to Pine Mountain for fossil sand dollars. More about that in the next bulletin.
     Field trips are fun - come along!!
          John McCabe,
          Field Trip Chairperson.

Table of Contents.

May.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!!! St. Francis Dam and Tick Canyon.
     APRIL FIELD TRIP: On April 19, Steve Mulqueen and John McCabe led the VGMS field trip to the site of the St. Francis Dam near Saugus and to Tick Canyon near the community of Vasquez Rocks. There were a total of 14 people attending the field trip.
     The first stop was the site of the St. Francis dam. This dam collapsed in 1928 causing extensive flooding throughout the Santa Clara River Valley in portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. The flood was the worst disaster Ventura County has ever experienced, resulting in extensive death and destruction. The failure of the dam was linked directly to the adverse geologic conditions at the dam site. The history and geology at the site was discussed in detail.
     The second stop was at the famous Howlite collecting locality known as Tick Canyon. This area was the site of a borate mine where Colemanite ore was produced by the Sterling Borax Company between the years 1908 and 1922. The borate deposit is part of the Vasquez Formation which is Oligocene (Epoch), 30 million years old. Minerals found on the trip included Howlite, Colemanite, Ulexite. Overall, the trip was a great success.
          Contributed by Steve Mulqueen.

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September.

PREPARING FOR A FIELD TRIP by Chuck McKie, Field Trip North Chairman: A Basic Check List of Items to Take.
     Trips to different areas and/or various materials in locations involving techniques as opposite as picking up items from the ground to blasting (NO! NO! NO BLASTING! PLEASE!) to hard rock mining will obviously require some things one time, altogether something else another. You will have to rely on your experience as to what you need to take with you. If it is your first trip, try to ask the field trip leader for advice.

Make a list of items you need to take with you. Here is my suggested list. As I said, this is a basic list. Add to it or scratch off items you won't need or don't have.

• Field Trip Map and Instructions (this is how you will know where and what you are going after).
• Tools:
• Rock pick;
• Chisels (sharpened and mushroom heads ground off);
• Gloves (preferably leather);
• Small sledge (1 to 4 pounder and remember to tighten loose handles on all tools);
• Medium sledge (6 or 8 pounder - fluorescent paint on tool handles help to locate them in dim light);
• Large sledge (10 to 16 pounder for very hard rocks like jade or rhodonite);
• Pry bar ( for digging out smaller specimens);
• Large crow bar (to move very large objects);
• Chinese tooth pick (a very large chisel with a pipe hammer - very few of us have one);
• Pliers - to hold your chisel while you beat on it with your sledge (sledges hurt when you miss);
• Pick - miner's;
• Shovel.
• Supplies:
• Bag in which to carry your tools;
• Squirt bottle for wetting the rocks;
• Water - for drinking (very important) and to fill your squirt bottle - if you have a clean squirt bottle you can drink from it;
• Fill water tank of RV.
• Boxes or large cloth bags in which to carry your large rocks;
• Egg cartons if you are going after small delicate mineral specimens;
• Newspapers/paper towels in which to wrap specimens;
• Magnifying glass to see those micro-mounts;
• Thermos or canteen for coffee, tea, water;
• Safety glasses and face shields;
• Sunglasses.
• Auxiliary Items (remember, if more than one person is going, you may need more than one of some things):
• Camera - pictures for club history or a magazine article;
• Extra film;
• Flashlight - a good thing for emergencies at night;
• Extra batteries;
• Binoculars to see those distant scenic views or wild life;
• Rain gear (of course it won't rain);
• Extra:
• Dry socks and shoes (sure, I said it won't rain, but...);
• Pants and shirts or shorts and blouses (although I advise the ladies that long pants do protect their legs, long sleeves protect the arms from cuts, scratches, and sun burn);
• Underclothes.
• First-aid kit (field trip leaders, especially, but everybody should have one);
• Coat;
• Sweater;
• Hat with a wide brim (a hard hat, if there is a danger of falling rocks, but then maybe you should not go there if it is that dangerous);
• Chapstick;
• Will there be a pot-luck? List what you will take;
• Cooking utensils;
• Happy hour snacks and your personal liquid refreshments;
• Plates;
• Spoons, forks, knives;
• Mosquito spray or repellent. I've heard that "Skin So Soft" ladies lotion works.
• For Field Trip Leaders:
• Samples of material to be collected;
• First aid kit;
• Extra safety glasses for forgetful persons;
• Handouts, if you have one;
• Cellular telephone for emergencies;
• Field trip leader identifying hat, badge, or ?
• Special Items if Tenting:
• Enough tent pegs, ropes in good shape and not rotten, support bars or poles;
• Sleeping bag;
• Ground tarp;
• Tent;
• Camp stove;
• Matches in zip-lock bag;
• Fuel for stove;
• Wood for bon-fire if permitted;
• Pot, pan, cup;
• Dish soap and scrubber;
• Salt, pepper, spices;
• Itemized food;
• Paper towels;
• Paper Plates.

     via CFMS Newsletter,
     September 1997.

Table of Contents.

October/November.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! Jalama Beach.
     The Jalama Beach field trip was a great one, with about 10 people attending and they all enjoyed a beautiful California day. As John said, it was a mile up and 10 miles back with their loads! John had sliced some of the material he found and brought it to the Silent Auction. I was the lucky one to persevere on that one and brought it home. It now graces our waterfall! With it being constantly wet the various patterns of Jasper are beautiful. Thanks John.
     VGMS isn't having a field trip of their own in October, as several are going to Trona - Steve & Susan Mulqueen, KJ & Aniko Werner. Unfortunately, as things tend to all happen at the same time, there is another field trip for Benitoite & Fresnoite in San Benito County the same weekend. That one filled up fast, but Red & Nancy Jioras, Kathryn Davis, David Mautz and Jim & Shirley Layton got in on it. We will have reports on these trips and samples to share at the October meeting.

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December.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! Benitoite, California's gemstone.
     Was it a lure? Oh yah! Lots of phone calls allowed a whole group of VGMS members to join a field trip sponsored by NFBT and the Monterey Bay Gem and Mineral Society.
     Members from clubs all over California also came. A long caravan of vehicles slowly snaked toward the benitoite mine late Saturday morning. Once at the mine the tap tap tap of rock hammers sounded from all directions. People worked alone and in groups to look for treasures. Without a short-wave UV lamp (efforts to purchase one were quite unsuccessful) it was difficult to know if there was any benitoite or fresnoite or not. It is certain, however, that Bob Spjut did find some very good fresnoite crystals. A lot of matrix came home to be looked at more carefully later. The hills were mostly serpentine; some soft, some harder. So serpentine went into the buckets too.
     We returned to Jade Mill for a tri-tip barbeque hosted by the Monterey Bay Mineral Society. The mine owner, Liza Junnila, was a lot of fun and very knowledgeable. She also gave away several specimens. Three of them went to VGMS members. But what was amazing was that three of our members were October birthday boys (we had cake) and all three of them were VGMS winners. So the Universe gave each one of them a special surprise for their birthday.
     On Sunday many of us went to the Aurora mine for plasma agate and cinnabar. Most of the group also went to another mine for amethyst and quartz. Treasures were plentiful.
     We brought some of our finds to the October meeting. You're sure to see more as the rocks get cut and worked.
     Would I go again? I sure would. The area fascinated me. The time was much too short and even the creeks appeared to be full of goodies. In other words, there is a whole lot to go back for.
          Contributed by Kathryn Davis.

Table of Contents.

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