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Thunder Egg Hunt Deming, NM
The following day we had reserved for a planned field trip. The area around Deming offers many rockhounding sites to visit and dig for just about any little bauble your heart has a yearning for. It is also home of the famous Rockhound State Park, located a few miles south of town. Rockhound State Park has it's own RV park and many collecting sites within the park as well as close by. As I reflect back on our original plans to go rockhounding on Saturday, I can't remember where we were planning to go. This is because we ran into fellow rockhounds from our own club at the show. One of them was Phil Weber who was carrying a big rock with a hole in one end. The rock was oval in shape and about 10 to 12 inches long and approximately 6 inches in diameter. Phil's eyes were gleaming and his face was beaming when he said," look at this puppy". We peered into the opening and discovered that what Phil had was a hollow Geode or volcanic nodule (sometimes called a ThunderEgg) with beautiful terminated crystals covering the inside walls. It was truly a great find. Bill Jaeger, our club president, was standing there with Phil and Keith (another club member). They were discussing plans for that evening including a scouting trip to a site south of town that has geodes with various colored agate in them. The location is called, South Canyon and we were also very interested in learning about it. They invited us to join them for dinner at a local steakhouse and see what developed. As it turns out, they were going out after dinner to find this site. Bear in mind that by this time it was about 6:30pm and already getting dark. We had an excellent dinner at the Rancher's Grill Steakhouse where we swapped tall tales about rockhounding adventures and enjoyed some great conversation. Then we all struck out for the hills south of town, accompanied by our respective spouses. There we were, following our friends' taillights down several miles of dirt roads, over hills, through mud-filled washes, in the dark, noting the mileage at each turn. Finally our leader stopped! Leaving his headlights shining on the hillside, Bill gathered us together to explain exactly where we should look and dig the following morning.
The photo above shows that true rockhounds will go to great lengths in the pursuit of their quest for the most perfect specimens. If it's 9 o'clock at night and you are in a caravan looking for a dig site, "You might be a Rockhound."
We were to meet Phil, Mary, Keith and Mari the next morning at Rockhound State Park where they were camped in their RV's. We, on the other hand, had stayed at The Grand - a very comfortable motel back in town.
There were already some other vehicles there and some heavy equipment, (the digging kind). It turns out that this is a mining claim run by a person known as the "Geode Kid". He also runs a museum and rock shop near Rockhound State Park. He opens his claim up to the public once a year during the Deming show. He does however ask that everyone stay away from the area that the equipment is working including the actual pit.
We all found a spot and began to dig. It certainly was easier than South Canyon as we were digging in the mine tailings and dumps. By this time it is getting late in the day and a storm system was moving in from the south. We had found a few good looking propects but nothing like the specimen we had seen cradled in Phil's arm the night before. Just prior to leaving I came across one that had the end knocked off. "EUREKA", it was hollow and filled with beautiful Crystals.
Finally, we felt a sense of fulfillment and gathered up our bucket of geodes and headed for the truck. We felt it had been a great day. Great company and friends to rockhound with and once again being outside in the beautiful Southwest Desert. But now we were anxious to get home and see what else we might have in our bucket.
The next day, Sunday, I couldn't wait to fire up our diamond saw and cut into one of these rocks. It was a tough choice to figure out which one would be first and which way to cut it. Those of you who have done this know exactly what I'm talking about. The results of my selection are pictured in this story and
more pictures in our
Mineral Collection Page
All of our Thundereggs and Geodes come from the same mine where Becky Worley of "Cash and Treasures" on the Travel Channel found hers. We do plan a return trip back to New Mexico in the near future and hope to have continued good luck. I also want to wish you all the best in your rockhounding endeavors and remember...... Be Safe, Fill your holes, Close all gates behind you, and respect the property of others. This will help protect the open access we have come to enjoy in the Great Southwest.
I update frequently with new articles. Information contained in these is from reliable sources and personal experiences with a little humor thrown into the mix from time to time. So come back and visit often! NEW Rockhounds Store
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