Utah Gemstones

[DaveZ 13]

Colorless and sherry topaz from Topaz Mtn. Worth every flat tire to get out there. Take multiple cans of fix-a-flat and a compressor. You will need them. We did find one tiny, partially replaced piece of red beryl after 2 days of busting rocks. Never got a pic of it, and it's in my partners garden now! 

Had a day to myself and decided to spend it on Sunstone Knoll. Glad i did. I'll end up there again next year, mainly because I have some strange urge to use the sunstones for fishbowl gravel. Yes that is an entire Ziploc snackbag full of sunstones.... I do tend to get kinda greedy.

 

[d_day 315]

Nice haul!

[Bedrock Bob 3,904]

Awesome rock hounding!

We have bytownite and golden labradorite that some folks call sunstones. Is that what you have there? Do they have schiller?

It looks exactly like what we have in a spot. In pockets in extrusive volcanics. Some are water clear and some are yellow. Some rocks have a milky blue schiller that shows really nicely when tumbled.

Those are some of my favorite crystals. I can't say I know many folks who have found a pocket full of those. Nice Big unfractured ones too.

Red beryl in the garden? I have found one tiny red beryl inclusion in a hundred hours of cracking rocks. You are breaking my heart man! Have you no concern for others feelings at all?

 

[DaveZ 13]

Yep Bedrock, same stuff, Utah Sunstone/yellow labradorite. No or very little schiller. Those are all float, picked up in about 6 hours.

Don't cry over the red beryl loss... It was about .5mm thick and 2.5mm round. It looked like a tiny stop sign, but was mostly replaced, half grey/half red. After finding that one tiny piece though, I know where to look again! 

[Stillweaver hillbelli 249]

DaveZ   Posted Sunday at 08:03 PM.  "Colorless and sherry topaz from Topaz Mtn. Worth every flat tire to get out there. Take multiple cans of fix-a-flat and a compressor. You will need them."

.............

Airing down your tires  25% from normal inflation pressures and driving slower can mitigate puncture risks when driving rocky dirt roads.

When tires are fully inflated, they present a harder surface  for small sharp rocks to punch through.

Also, small "sharpies" that present little risk  laying  flat in the road ,can be kicked up by the front tires to present a more pointed front when trapped by the rear tires at an inclined angle( imagine your tire rolling over  a "pungi" stick).

Don't forget tire plugs, as fix a flat can be hit or miss, as well as being corrosive to steel belts.

Always get a tire plugged by a shop if using it as soon after the flat as posssible. Costco will refuse to plug a tire with a fix a flat repair.

 

[Bedrock Bob 3,904]

Dave,

Could you please post a photo of your tires for Stillweaver? He seems to be fascinated with that aspect of your story. Maybe a hi res image of those voluptuous Michelins with a little green slime dripping from the valve stem is what he needs to complete his morning.

Just for the record I am a bit turned on by an underinflated tire as well. The low sidewalls, the extra curvature against the road, the soft punchy feel over the bumps. Just the mention of slime gets me all worked up...

[Stillweaver hillbelli 249]

Equating " green slime" with it's slang moniker of Whale Snot should burst your bubble, Bob.

I only rattled on as my last off road experience in Aridzona resulted in a rather ragged rock puncture that required a couple plugs  on the fly, after fixaflat failed to do the trick... then the aforementioned Costco experience.

BigO Tire , though, stepped up to bat, rinsed out the tire and gave it a proper plugging.

[Bedrock Bob 3,904]

...And away we go!

[Stillweaver hillbelli 249]

5 hours ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Dave,

...The low sidewalls, the extra curvature against the road, the soft punchy feel over the bumps. Just the mention of slime gets me all worked up...

 Some of you New Messyco birds are a bit cucko.

Take a cold shower.

[Stillweaver hillbelli 249]

Dave, fine lot of baubles you have there.

Sorry to highJack your thread, a bit ,over to the proper care  and feeding  of tires, but you  did bring it up.

 Please forgive Bob. He's a bit lonely  in the New Mexico wildlands  and  sometimes is a bit too open with his thoughts around company.

He means well , and is a veritable encyclopedia of minerology if you open him up.

Just don't get him started on the Religion of Climate Emergency,Change ,Warming... he's a mule in those aspects of conversation.

[Bedrock Bob 3,904]

1 hour ago, Stillweaver hillbelli said:

 Some of you New Messyco birds are a bit cucko.

Take a cold shower.

Gas pockets in volcanic rock can contain some really rare and beautiful minerals. 

Bytownite or Sunstone is a neat quest. It is relatively rare in the U.S. It is pretty sought after stuff. In days past there was a good market for clear yellow pieces. It is a popular faceting material and makes beautiful stones. Once in a while it will have a cloudy blue "spirit" in the stone. Not quite schiller but definitely a luminescent play of colored light. 

You can find gold nuggets on millions of acres in the West. Lots of fellows have found a nugget or two. That stuff there is a rare find and not just everyone has a chunk to show off. A sackfull of unfractured chunks is a worthy accomplishment indeed.

Red beryl is only found in two spots in the entire west. One in my back yard in the Ja Ja Mountains. One in his back yard in the Wah Wah Mountains. The stuff can be worth a mint for a small, clear red crystal. More than all the gold you and I have ever found in a pile.

Now, some guys want to talk about tire repair. And it is great to have your opinions on the subject SH. But it seems a great time to talk about some cool rare minerals. If a guy allowed the conversation to develop there could be some cool photos posted. Maybe some other members would post who had direct experience.

Or we could talk about your flat tires. That would be cool too.

Could we ask Skip to start a separate thread about tire repair and talk red beryl in this one?

Pretty Please?

 

[Au Seeker 3,106]

51 minutes ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Gas pockets in volcanic rock can contain some really rare and beautiful minerals. 

Bytownite or Sunstone is a neat quest. It is relatively rare in the U.S. It is pretty sought after stuff. In days past there was a good market for clear yellow pieces. It is a popular faceting material and makes beautiful stones. Once in a while it will have a cloudy blue "spirit" in the stone. Not quite schiller but definitely a luminescent play of colored light. 

You can find gold nuggets on millions of acres in the West. Lots of fellows have found a nugget or two. That stuff there is a rare find and not just everyone has a chunk to show off. A sackfull of unfractured chunks is a worthy accomplishment indeed.

Red beryl is only found in two spots in the entire west. One in my back yard in the Ja Ja Mountains. One in his back yard in the Wah Wah Mountains. The stuff can be worth a mint for a small, clear red crystal. More than all the gold you and I have ever found in a pile.

Now, some guys want to talk about tire repair. And it is great to have your opinions on the subject SH. But it seems a great time to talk about some cool rare minerals. If a guy allowed the conversation to develop there could be some cool photos posted. Maybe some other members would post who had direct experience.

Or we could talk about your flat tires. That would be cool too.

Could we ask Skip to start a separate thread about tire repair and talk red beryl in this one?

Pretty Please?

 

Bob,

I usually don't start topics to redirect/move off topic subject matter, if someone else would like to do so I can however move any  posts that are off topic here and pertains to that topic if need be, especially if the OP (DaveZ) feels they are a distraction to his topic and subject matter.

[Bedrock Bob 3,904]

24 minutes ago, Au Seeker said:

Bob,

I usually don't start topics to redirect/move off topic subject matter, if someone else would like to do so I can however move any  posts that are off topic here and pertains to that topic if need be, especially if the OP (DaveZ) feels they are a distraction to his topic and subject matter.

It was a rhetorical request directed as a question to Mr. Stillwillie. Not a request to actually move or create a new thread.

I just said that instead of telling Mr. Hillbeaver that nobody gives a ratsass about his flat tires. Nor do we need instructions and/or advice on tire repair.

I was trying to be polite and it wasn't any fun at all. 

What is with this place anyway? It is full of wackos and cranks and a bunch of swinging bratwurst. As soon as a normal guy that writes in full sentences shows up with some cool rocks someone has to go and derail the whole train with some handy tire tips. 

It is like building sandcastles at the beach. But instead of some muscled out meatsickle kicking it over, some old crank mumbling about global warming and tire maintenance trips and falls over it.

I'm telling you Skip there is something in the water. And it aint good. 

[fredmason 1,135]

Yeah, but what about those diamonds you said you found, Mr. Bob? No pics?

 Nice rocks, Davez it is difficult to cull the herd 

once you start finding them....

fred