[Rockhounds] Moab Trip Report

[Alpen at aol.com]

Glenn,
 
I enjoyed your report.  I'm still hoping to get out in that area  before 
winter really sets in.
 
If you're willing to share directions of coordinates to the locations where  
you collected the pet. wood, agate and nodules, I'd be very interested.  I  
have a vehicle with better than average clearance, but it's not a  truck.  Would 
a Subaru or Audi Allroad make it in there?  If not, how  close could we get?
 
Thanks for any help,
 
Eric
 
In a message dated 11/8/2007 6:11:55 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
rockhounds-request at lists.drizzle.com writes:

Message:  2
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 23:49:34 -0600
From: Glenn Wimpee  <pawpawtiger at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Rockhounds] Moab Trip  Report
To: "rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com"  <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Message-ID:  <BAY138-W1309E8B8CD8BE7F8FD054AA28B0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Jeanette and I left Salt Lake City  Wednesday 10-31-2007 and drove the scenic 
route over the San Raphael Swell to  Moab.

We stopped at a little portable BarBQ trailer in Salina and took  2 delicious 
dinners with us to Moab. There we ate them as we sat just off the  Colorado 
River after sunset and stargazed.

Thursday morning we  overslept before hitting the trail up to Delicate Arch. 
Amazing formations  including agate, green uranium ore, and of course the 
sandstone and slick rock  formed the trail. Awesome, spectacular views accompanied 
us as we hiked up to  the iconic arch.

We then drove through Canyonlands N.P. where we saw  the trailhead and 
switchback of the Shafer Trail. Farther in the Grand View  Point overlooks the 
confluence of the green and Colorado  Rivers.

Friday's first stop was a big green mound on open land where we  picked up a 
few very rough unpromising pieces I suspect are not very  radioactive. It was 
apparent we were not the first nor only rockhounds to  visit and dig there. We 
had no company except for a trailer with a "toy box"  that likely held 4 
wheelers or motocross bikes. 

Next we drove to the  Yellow Cat Road where we saw eagles feeding on dead 
coyotes or wolves at a  corral. Down the road a few miles we went over a ridge 
and found fields of  petrified wood, agate, and various rocks and minerals. Our 
favorite pieces we  collected there are small branches of very white petrified 
wood. Layers of  black, cream, and green rock were exposed on the rolling 
plain. Most of the  petrified wood is very, very dark, almost black.

Driving on we came to  the famous Big Tire Fork. The middle tine trails leads 
roughly (literally)  past several claims with the green stuff piled high at 
several mines. There is  a spring but it is fenced off. A very beautiful scenic 
trail to nowhere that  had several spots requiring 4WD and ended on top of a 
slick rock  hill.

>From there the next stop was in a field of barite jasper  grape agate 
nodules. Many are geodic and contain crystals. All we saw were  softball size and 
smaller. Jeanette picked up one which we cracked and found  filled with 
celestite. There are millions lying exposed on the surface. Lots  are already cracked 
and filled with red sandy dirt which makes the inner  crystals difficult to 
see. We did the best we could at high grading and kept  only a few. Again the 
scenery is awesome. Book cliffs along the trail and the  San Raphael Swell to 
the west. 

Pictures will be posted on our website  soon and I'll post the link when 
they're up.

Thanks for reading. Your  comments are welcomed.
Glenn 


 



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