Fieldtrips
The Spring Calendar of Field Trips is beginning to take place.
How To Enroll. Field trip fees are $10 per person and your online payment below will enroll you on the trip.
Refunds & Cancellations. If you can't go, you may give away or sell your spot to someone else, but refunds are not issued unless the Club cancels the trip.
How to Get There. All participants are responsible for their own travel to the destination. Before the trip you will receive a trip planner by email with details about the destination, travel directions, road conditions, what to bring, and nearby camping areas.
Membership Requirement. You may attend one Club function (one field trip, open shop, or demo etc.) to find out if you like what the Club has to offer. Thereafter membership is required to participate. If you see more than one trip on this list you want to attend then please Join the Club. Annual membership prices are very reasonable.
How To Enroll. Field trip fees are $10 per person and your online payment below will enroll you on the trip.
Refunds & Cancellations. If you can't go, you may give away or sell your spot to someone else, but refunds are not issued unless the Club cancels the trip.
How to Get There. All participants are responsible for their own travel to the destination. Before the trip you will receive a trip planner by email with details about the destination, travel directions, road conditions, what to bring, and nearby camping areas.
Membership Requirement. You may attend one Club function (one field trip, open shop, or demo etc.) to find out if you like what the Club has to offer. Thereafter membership is required to participate. If you see more than one trip on this list you want to attend then please Join the Club. Annual membership prices are very reasonable.
Geodes, Double Pointed Quartz Crystals and Multicolored Agates from Payson area
Postponed
Payson "Diamonds," Agates, Geodes & More
Trip Leader Rollo Pool
This trip is postponed until fall. Enrollment will be available when the new dates are set.
This trip to central Arizona will provide opportunities to collect at multiple locations, primarily agates (purple, white, zebra and banded), petrified wood and other fossils, as well as popular Payson "Diamonds," unusually clear, double-pointed quartz crystals. If time, we will hunt geodes too. The Arizona trip will give us a jumpstart on summer, as daytime highs are typically in the upper 70s with overnight lows in the mid 40s - perfect for camping and hiking. Trip Leader Rollo Pool is both a member of the Four Corners Gem Club here in Durango, as well as the Payson Gem Club in Arizona. He will lead us to at least three destinations and has recommendations for additional sites to visit as a group or on your own. A trip planner will be sent out to participants with meeting sites and times. The area has abundant camping, with free, dispersed camping allowed in most Forest Service and BLM lands of this region.
Payson "Diamonds," Agates, Geodes & More
Trip Leader Rollo Pool
This trip is postponed until fall. Enrollment will be available when the new dates are set.
This trip to central Arizona will provide opportunities to collect at multiple locations, primarily agates (purple, white, zebra and banded), petrified wood and other fossils, as well as popular Payson "Diamonds," unusually clear, double-pointed quartz crystals. If time, we will hunt geodes too. The Arizona trip will give us a jumpstart on summer, as daytime highs are typically in the upper 70s with overnight lows in the mid 40s - perfect for camping and hiking. Trip Leader Rollo Pool is both a member of the Four Corners Gem Club here in Durango, as well as the Payson Gem Club in Arizona. He will lead us to at least three destinations and has recommendations for additional sites to visit as a group or on your own. A trip planner will be sent out to participants with meeting sites and times. The area has abundant camping, with free, dispersed camping allowed in most Forest Service and BLM lands of this region.
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Mancos Ammonite Fossils with Ammolite
Saturday June 11 Trip Leader Jama Crawford On this day trip (or overnight camp, if you prefer) near Mancos, Colorado, we will hike to elevation to hunt for ammonite fossils, close relatives to modern nautilus, octopus and squid. These ammonites are highly compressed due to the dome uplift that raised the La Plata Mountains, but they have preserved their distinctive shape and, even more exciting, most have an iridescent quality due to the opalization of aragonite in the animal's shell, popularly known as "Ammolite." Ammolite is one of very few gemstones derived from an organic (once living) source. These ammonites don't achieve gem quality, but they are beautiful and everyone will be successful in the hunt. This is a strenuous hike and the footing under the collection site is loose and steep. Depending on your vehicle, it will be either a 2.5 mile hike from a dirt road (suitable for a passenger vehicle) or a 1.5 mile hike from a 4WD road. The elevation gain for the last 1.5 miles of hiking is intense. There is good camping (free, dispersed) all along the road for those who would like to spend the night. |
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ON YOUR OWN
Fossils/Rocks to Be Seen
These sandstone, mudstone, and shale layers from the Fruitland Formation are very colorful, from the brown-ochre tones of the badlands to yellow-orange rock formations and hoodoos, as well as light gray mud hills, charcoal colored badlands and occasional coal seams. Fossils include petrified wood and many animal fossils, including dinosaur bones and early mammals. Again, no collecting is allowed. During the Cretaceous Period, the San Juan Basin is believed to have been a beach/marsh complex resembling coastlines such as modern Louisiana or the Carolinas today, with land to the west and inland sea to the east. Palm wood is common throughout the San Juan Basin as are dinosaur fossils of both herbivore and carnivore species.
References
BLM Website - http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/wilderness_and_wsas/wilderness_study_areas/wilderness_study_areas/Ah_shi_sle_pah_WSA.html (retrieved Sept 2016)
American Southwest Website - http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/ah-shi-sle-pah/ (retrieved Sept 2016)
Chaco Canyon 1:100,000 scale topo map
Google Earth 36 deg 10 min 29.33 sec North 107 deg 52 min 42.12 sec
Submitted by Tom Strain, Sept 2016
Fossils/Rocks to Be Seen
These sandstone, mudstone, and shale layers from the Fruitland Formation are very colorful, from the brown-ochre tones of the badlands to yellow-orange rock formations and hoodoos, as well as light gray mud hills, charcoal colored badlands and occasional coal seams. Fossils include petrified wood and many animal fossils, including dinosaur bones and early mammals. Again, no collecting is allowed. During the Cretaceous Period, the San Juan Basin is believed to have been a beach/marsh complex resembling coastlines such as modern Louisiana or the Carolinas today, with land to the west and inland sea to the east. Palm wood is common throughout the San Juan Basin as are dinosaur fossils of both herbivore and carnivore species.
References
BLM Website - http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/wilderness_and_wsas/wilderness_study_areas/wilderness_study_areas/Ah_shi_sle_pah_WSA.html (retrieved Sept 2016)
American Southwest Website - http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/ah-shi-sle-pah/ (retrieved Sept 2016)
Chaco Canyon 1:100,000 scale topo map
Google Earth 36 deg 10 min 29.33 sec North 107 deg 52 min 42.12 sec
Submitted by Tom Strain, Sept 2016