Rockhounding

We are now entering the beginning of my life as a Rockhound! Yes, I am completely gaga over rocks. Any color, shape or form I love them all. I love the story they show us as they evolved through fire, rain, wind and anything else that formed their unique make-up.

As I started my quest for rocks I found a website that not only gave me directions to the area the rocks were, but also had diagrams of where the rocks were located. Since I am an absolute beginner at this I was so grateful for any help I could get. The site is Finding Rocks. Click on the link below to see what a great site it is.

Adelanto Dendrites

The first location we went to was outside of Adelanto, CA. The directions were so precise we found it with no problem. Now the rocks that were listed at this location were Manganese Dendrites and Rusty Red Garnets. Just look at the picture I have included of the beauty you can find in these Dendrites. This location was at an abandoned tungsten mine where you just have to look for the broken down concrete foundations to find the rocks. Again, remember I am a beginner and have no idea what I am looking for so we grab some rocks that we thought might be them and I will take them to our Gem and Mineral Society Geniuses to see if we have the right rock. I have included pictures of the area and pictures of the wonderful view from the site. There is so much beauty in the desert but I love it best at dusk when all the shadows and colors are dancing on the mountains.

You can see how defined the area is for you to explore the rocks. This was a perfect first rockhounding trip. The directions were great, the roads were well driven so we didn’t need a four wheel drive and there wasn’t a lot of climbing.

Gem Hill Rosamond

As we were looking for Gem Hill in Rosamond, CA. we began to have a glimpse of time past. We drove by an old gold mine that still had quite a bit of the old buildings standing. Then as we left Gem Hill we were able to see a new working Gold Mine which showed us the time present. Once we knew where we were going it wasn’t hard to find. Unfortunately we were driving our van this time which is low to the ground so it wasn’t as easing getting to it as it would be with our truck. Hindsight, next time we drive the truck. There is more climbing at this sight but it was fun going through the rocks we could get to. I am going back again with my son who also loves rocks and is much younger to climb! 

Again we were given a very cool map that actually directed us to which part of the hill had which stones. 

There are five different rocks to look for; Petrified Wood, Jas-Agate, Green Opal, Blue Agate and Dendritic agate nodules in basalt. You can see how the location of the rocks are marked. The first picture is of Gem Hill, next is the map of the site and last is the beautiful view including windmills that are popping up all over the desert.