Three Days Chasing Rocks in Central Oregon!

Garry and I headed down to Central Oregon this week to chase rocks and soak up some sun.

Plume Agate

Some really nice Plumes.

We left my house at 8:15am and it generally takes six hours to reach our preferred hunting area.

Arriving near our camp spot we decided to do a little hiking before setting up camp.

Garry

We couldn’t ask for better weather.

The weather was cool and sunny, with a slight breeze. ?Perfect for tromping around the hills of Central Oregon. ?There are many areas in Central Oregon that have a variety of collectible material. ?This spot was no exception.

Jasper

Multi-colored jasper.

Agate

Unique agate.

Crystal

Nice crystal plates.

We also had some company in our jaunt through the hills. ?We saw one rattler and this small lizard.

Lizard

Company is always appreciated on our hikes.

We hiked the hills for about two hours before heading back to the trucks and on to our camp site. ?Here is my hauls for the day.

Agate and Jasper

Not to bad of a haul for the short amount of time spent.

Setting up camp is just a matter of fixing up the beds in the trucks and cooking up some cup of soup for supper.

Camp

A minimalist camp.

Day two dawned clear and cold, with a promise of warmer weather during the day. ?We quickly fixed our breakfast, and then headed out for our first goal. ?Last year Garry located a very interesting log, but we didn’t have the equipment with us to pry it out of the native soil and rock.

We came prepared this year and quickly started digging and prying.

Petrified Log

The start of something wonderful.

It took us about an hour to get a nice piece of this beautiful agatized log out of the ground.

Petrified Log

The results of our labor.

We then spent another hour getting it to a place where we could load it into my truck. ?It was well worth it though.

After fulfilling our first goal we headed to another previous find and spent the remainder of the day surface hunting for Golden Volcano Plume agate. ?We were fortunate to find some really nice pieces. ?The picture at the beginning of this post is one of the nicest we found. ?I found the largest piece, but it is still in the ground.

Agate

This agate is at least as long as my gem scoop and probably 2 feet across.

We also found some very nicely patterned jasper.

Jasper

I think this could be called Rainbow Jasper.

Garry named it, and I think the name is appropriate.

It was starting to get late so we loaded up and headed back to camp. ?I had brought 5 gallons of water, but had not secured the container very well and I ended up watering the plants along side to road. for quite a ways. ?So I headed into town and bought 3 gallons of water to get me through the rest of the trip.

Day three promised to be hotter yet, so we headed out quite early. ?This time we headed in the opposite direction wanting to explore a new area.

Our luck held and I located a log that would be a perfect addition to any collection. ?Unfortunately, I decided to release this one back into the wild.

Petrified Log

Catch and Release

Here is a better view.

Petrified Log

Another view.

I really did not want to leave this log but we were to far from the trucks to make it worth it to carry it out. ?We continued to hunt though and I was able to find one that was just as nice but quite a bit smaller.

Petrified Log

Smaller but just as nice

This one will make a nice addition to my collection of full round logs.

We checked out one more area before deciding that it was getting too hot and headed back to camp for a well earned rest.

We accomplished all of our goals for this trip and decided to head for home. ?So on the fourth morning we packed up camp and hit the road early. ?This allowed us to miss all the traffic congestion in Portland and Tacoma.

Thanks for joining us.

chasfire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Three Days Chasing Rocks in Central Oregon!

    1. chasfire Post author

      Melissa: Thanks for the comment. I agree, and hope to find more of the same in the future.

      chasfire

  1. Garry

    It was a great trip and I like your photos. People might not appreciate the size of the big agate in the photo of the rock scoop – the fact that it starts at the top of the scoop and goes all the way to the end of the handle. We might still be there if the weather hadn’t been so hot. Who would have thought we would get “baked out” of that area in May?

    1. chasfire Post author

      Garry: Thanks. I know that the picture of the big one is not to clear on just how big it is, but it was the only picture I had. I too wish it would have been cooler, maybe our next trip will be more hospitable.

      chasfire

  2. Gene

    I am so jealous, I have got to go down there someday, even if it’s just to look around. I Have a former employer who has gone there multiple times, Ive heard his stories, I see your posts here, and its now embedded in my blood. Those are such great finds. Love the pics. Hey, I think this was the first time you have ever mentioned seeing a rattler…..interesting.

    Gene

    1. chasfire Post author

      Gene: I think you should head on down that way. There is a lot of great country to rockhound in, and a lot of great rocks to find. This is only the third time I have ever seen a rattler, which is three times to many in my opinion.

      chasfire

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