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

Field Trips 1998 Archive.

Table of Contents.

1. JANUARY - FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! - Bruno and Opal Benson;
2. APRIL - "FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN" AFTON CANYON;
3. JUNE - FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!!-Various;
4. JUNE - Howdy says;
5. JULY - POINT WELL TAKEN.

January.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! by Bruno and Opal Benson.
     Our "Field Trip of Field Trips" turned out to be a great day, and I don't mean just the weather! Many members turned up in the front yard of Bruno and Opal Benson on January 10th. A lot of really nice material went to some very good homes to be continued on in the VGMS Show Cases! Please share some of these finds with us at the next meeting. There is always space for display of our finds and those that can't make the trips are interested to see your treasures.
     The field trip for February will be Quartzsite!! Many are going or are already there. One of these days I will be amongst them! We will look forward to sharing their treasures at the February meeting.
     Greg Davis has many good ideas in the works for field trips this year. He is always interested in your wants as well, so share them with him.

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April.

"FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN" AFTON CANYON.
     Afton Canyon, just east of Barstow, is an interesting geological area. Part of the lake bottom of prehistoric Lake Mannix, Afton Canyon is formed mostly of lake sediment, some of which is over a hundred feet thick. Today, the powers of erosion and the Mojave River have carved quite a show place. At times called the Grand Canyon of California, the character and moods of Afton Canyon are many. From the multi-colored canyon walls to the spire like patterns that have been eroded in the sedimentary walls, Afton Canyon is a place where one could explore for weeks at a time and never truly see it all.
     The first weekend in April, VGMS members braved threats of EL NINO to scavenge rocks in Afton Canyon. Jay Baumler, Carlon Strobel, and Red and Nancy Jioras were the first group to arrive. They spent Friday visiting Diamond Pacific for as long as finances would allow, then they foraged around the foothills near the Early Man Site. As promised in the Gem Trails books, the collecting was good for agate, jasp-agate and a few small, but cute, chalcedony roses. The desert was in full bloom and the afternoon found the explorers up a dead-end canyon whose road was so full of wild flowers it looked like the poppies along the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. Wild flowers of all kinds flashed their incredible colors. Best of all were the blossoms of the Beaver Tail Cactus.
     Carlon made everyone pose so she could have a picture of them at the end of the canyon. With her camera on automatic, Carlon pushed the shutter and started her sprint around the rocks and foliage to get into the shot. As she jumped off a rock she tripped, launching herself about three feet into the air and landing face down. When the shutter went off, there were Jay, Nancy and Red all splitting a gut and looking down at the now prone Carlon (pictures to follow). Carlon, unbruised and laughing, finally got her shot and the group ended their Friday setting up camp in Afton Canyon at the BLM campground. The weather was as promised, cold (in the 30's) and windy, with occasional downpours.
     Shirley and Jim Layton and Kathryn Davis arrived during the night, and Greg and Valli Davis arrived shortly thereafter. Greg mentioned that this was their 25th wedding anniversary trip. He promised Valli that he was going to take her some place warm and sandy giving her a choice between Hawaii and the Mojave desert. Valli chose the rocks. Appropriately, Greg's gift to her on their silver anniversary was a shiny new rock hammer. Greg and Valli also brought a real "rock hound," their long haired Shar Pei named Bear. Bear has such a loveable disposition he was promptly voted the trip mascot.
     Shortly after Greg, Steve and Susan Mulqueen arrived and soon the intrepid 11 were off in three vehicles, fording the raging Mojave River (it was only 2 1/2 feet deep) in search of the treasures of Afton Canyon. The first canyon explored yielded very little except for burro tracks and piles of droppings and more wonderful Beaver Tail Cactus in bloom. To the delight of all, Steve saved the walk by conducting a roving classroom on the area while Susan graciously helped the newer members identify plants, rocks and bugs.
     By the time the morning walk was over it was decided to go back to camp for some lunch and do more research about the area. Going back across the Mojave River Steve decided that the edge of the road was shallower. Upon exiting his vehicle back at camp, he discovered that he had run over something in the river that punctured his tire; enter the pit crew of Steve, Greg and Red. After removing the tire Greg came up with a tire patch kit, Steve had a mini-compressor, and in no time the problem was solved. Happily two of our new members, Les and Pat Isom had arrived and set up camp, ready to search out all these great rocks that Greg had told them about.
     While eating lunch, Steve and Greg broke out their Gem Trails books as well as the "Rock and Gem" article that Greg had copied, and the debate began about where to go next. The article spoke of a place by an old waterfall where every rock was gem quality. It was determined that the canyon discussed in the article was directly across from the camp, so off went 13 people in search of a gem covered waterfall. Shortly after entering the wash at the mouth of the canyon Shirley found a small but beautiful piece of blue lace agate with really nice pattern. It was also at this time Kathryn was nicknamed "first in, last out Davis" because there is truly no one more tenacious than Kathryn when it comes to searching for rocks. Kathryn's persistence prevailed up to the afternoon of the last day when she found a wonderful crystal cavity in a very odd rock. We hope she will share it at a club meeting.
     By Saturday evening the troops were all exhausted from crawling to the top of various ridges. Even though the quality rocks were not jumping into buckets, the views and flowers were so spectacular that no one was sorry to have made the trip. Even our new members, Les and Pat, expressed joy about being out there, although maybe Les' joy came from finding the prize of the trip in a fantastic piece of jasp-agate. The evening started with a great camp fire and a culinary feast for everyone prepared by Carlon. Her Shrimp Creole and spinach salad were out of this world. The rest of the evening found Carlon easing the tension of food preparation with copious quantities of wine, and Jay relaxing with just a few Gin and Tonics. By the end of the evening, everyone was so tired from laughing at the "world according to Jay" (ask him about 'Bunsen burner blue jeans') that sleep came easy to all. Steve and Susan were staying in Barstow and had to make that long drive back after a hard day of fun.
     Sunday found the group bright eyed (for the most part) and ready to find the missing waterfall. While half the group (Greg, Valli, Les, Pat and Bear) went to explore another side canyon, the other half (Jay, Shirley, Kathryn, Jim, Carlon, Nancy and Red) took a 4X4 cruise down the main canyon, driving in the moist, sometimes wet, Mojave River. About halfway through the main canyon they turned into a small side canyon with towering walls. Driving as far as possible they got out and walked into what can only be described as a natural cathedral. At the end of the trail was a small 10 X 10 foot room with straight walls that went up over a 100 feet. The rain waters had carved marvelous shapes into the landscape. It was really hard to look down for rocks when looking up was such a compelling view.
     By mid afternoon Sunday, everyone was pretty pooped and met at the camp ground to show off treasures and say good-byes. Again, Les showed off another beautiful piece of jasp-agate (this guy is a natural) and Greg claims to have found the secret waterfall, but he's not telling where. It was sad to end another great trip; but maybe the newly acquired treasures will be displayed at the next meeting. Hopefully the next field trip will see even more members getting together for another fun time.
          By Red and Nancy Jioras.

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June.

FIELD TRIPS ARE FUN!!! JUNE 13TH FIELD TRIP TO THE RITCHEY'S WAS A SUCCESS.
     There were many positive comments about the day spent at the Ritchey's! Hopefully we will get to see some of the neat material that was found and brought back at our next meeting. Not only did they get some great material but they had a bunch of fun doing it!!! Sounded like there was plenty left for the next person! Thanks to Jo Anna and Ray for having everyone and I'm sorry to have missed it, everything always happens at the same time!
SAFETY TIP.
     Been listening to the news lately? It seems that El Nino has produced a bumper crop of rodents. That means the increased food supply will cause snakes to produce a bumper crop of offspring as well. When out on the claims be extra alert to the increased snake danger. Keep your eyes and ears open!
          Via Drywasher's Gazette,
          June 1998.
HINTS FOR TRAVELING IN SAND.
     When traveling in sand, shift in to a lower gear before entering the sandy spot, and keep the motor speed to an even pull, but don't over pull as you can spin out as easily as you can stall, so keep up your momentum as much as possible, and don't stop unless necessary, as it is hard to get started again. When starting in sand it is best to use the lowest gear possible, and just enough speed on the motor so it doesn't stall, as too much power will cause the wheels to spin, and not hold. When you don't move but start to spin, stop and reverse directions, you may go a little ways before starting to spin again, but each time that you stop moving, and start to spin change directions. If you spin without moving in either direction, STOP, as you will only dig deeper in the sand.
     One person mentioned carrying two rolls of canvas one foot wide by twenty feet long, and if he got stuck he jacked up the back wheel, and laid a canvas strip under, then jacked up the front wheel, and continued unrolling the strip under the front wheel, and on out in front of the car, and doing the same on the other side, then fastening the strips to the back bumper with a string so if he did get started, the strips were pulled behind the car, and he didn't have to walk back after them, when he got to better footing. Brush can be used in place of canvas.
     It also helps to reduce the air pressure in the tires to about 15 lbs. to have the tires flatten out and make a broader surface on the sand, then it is a good idea to have a good air pump to reinflate the tire to proper air pressure. To reduce the labor involved in getting the tires back to normal pressure there are many air compressors available. Get type with air pressure gauge.
     If much travel is done in the desert or sandy places, larger tires will have a broader surface on the sand. The regular car wheels will stand tires about two sizes larger, but if larger tires are used the wheels will usually split out on the inside rim which is usually the weakest spot, then heavy duty or wider rimmed wheels should be used. When larger tires are used there is a loss in power, but a gain in speed, and the speedometer will register a little slower. In changing to larger size tires, the amount of air carried per load can be decreased. One method of checking for proper tire pressure is to feel of the tire after a run, to check for excessive heat. If the tire is too hot, increase tire pressure. If tire is low, too much flexing will cause excessive heat. If tire pressure is too high, car will ride hard and stone bruises accrue more easily. 5 lb. over pressure is good for high speed highway runs. 5 lb. under pressure is good for slow speeds and desert runs.
          Contributed by Bruno Benson.

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POINT WELL TAKEN.
     Rocks do not spoil in summer heat, or dissolve in the rain, or act like game fish and hide coyly at times. They are always available -- take what you NEED, and let the rest stay in the storehouse that has kept them safe for so many million years.
          M.J. Omerod,
          Editor, Rock Vein 1963,
          Via The Coral Geode Apr 98.

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