This was the clubs second field trip for October with the intention of collecting Luna Blue Agate in New Mexico.
A new friend from the Prescott club was to meet us Saturday afternoon in Alpine to lead us to Reserve , New Mexico to collect Agate on Sunday October 27th.
Thirteen members arrived in Alpine, Arizona around noon at the motel and from there we headed east on the 180 towards Luna N.M. We made several stops south of Luna at mile marker 10 and then at mile marker 4.
Good material was collected at MM4 in the road cuts, some Luna Blue was found and Druzy. Not a real productive site but still a good start for what awaited in Reserve on Sunday.
After breakfast Sunday morning we followed Allen Valley to Reserve N.M. where Allen had made arrangements to cross over private property onto State Land which was about a 3 mile drive uphill on uneven dirt road through three closed gates to a plateau in a forested setting. A vast expanse of forest land was covered in Banded Agate with Druzy. It was an overwhelming amount of material. It was hard not to pick it all up, but we had to be selective when we realized how much there actually was.
We spent the day there trying several locations and coming away very happy.
Sunday evening at dinner Allen made arrangements with a local from Alpine to lead us back into N.M. to several locations that turned out to be not so productive. It is my feeling our local guide did not want to take us to any secret spots thinking we would come back at some point and clean them out, can’t blame her for that, but she shouldn’t have offered to waste a whole day driving around. Beautiful country but we wanted rocks too. All in all this was a successful trip.
Members that attended :
Lowen & Cheryl
Sandy & Wendy
John & Beth
Andrea & Linda A
Clint & Erica
Alan Cartwright
Marty & Linda