Duly Noted

It's been brought to my attention

That I haven't written SHITE

in quite some time.

Well, there's shite to write about.

Rains continue and I haven't even been able to sneak into a river here and there as I normally do this time of year.

Fearing a total loss of kayaking skills

(not that skills are really necessary in Florida)

I've been out with fossil and kayak friends alike to clock some river time.

First up was a paddle on the Little Big Econ followed by a nighttime paddle at Haulover Canal in Titusville to view the bioluminescence in the water.  Stunning!

Next was 4 miles on the Weeki Wachee where we enjoyed a swim in the crystal clear water.

There's more!

Juniper Run was a challenging 7 miles of narrow twisting channels where you spent more time trying to keep your paddle out of the branches than you did actually paddling.

And finally, a first visit to Hogtown Creek in Gainesville.

We had basic creek entry instructions, from the park, but of course we witnessed other fossil hunters on their way to dig within the park boundaries.  This is why fossil hunting gets a bad rep at times.

We had been forewarned that we might run into a creek troll and he was there, trying to scare us away from the area but we passed him safely and didn't need to use up any of our spells or magic.

I found loads of tiny teeth but nothing even close to the gorgeous megs and fossils that are routinely posted on FaceBook from that area.  

Still beats getting skunked!

Pam also collected a nice assortment of small shark teeth.

Eyes on the prize.

I'll be heading out to Arizona in October with fossil friends, Jim and Vickie, with whom I've shared several memorable fossil hunting trips.  I was reminiscing about Round Mountain and the beautiful chalcedony nodules I found there and how I wish we could go back and spend a few days and

Ta Da!

It has been arranged.

Jim and Vickie have been known to overpack a bit so when Vickie posted this picture, I laughed. HARD!

Yeah, kinda like that.

Some day the water will go down...

but until then, I'm off to the desert!

From the eacourier web site:

Within a short drive of Safford lie two areas where gemstones known as fire agates may be collected. Just a bit northwest of Safford is the Black Hills Rockhound Area; further east, near the New Mexico state line, the Round Mountain Rockhound Area beckons collectors. These areas are open to the public and are under the auspices of the Bureau of Land Management. Both sites are available for rockhounding and non-commercial removal of specimens, with no fees or permits required.

Round Mountain Rockhound Area is a prime collecting spot for fire agates, an uncommon semi-precious gem found only in Mexico, California and Arizona. This particular spot is considered to be among the richest areas in the world for this gem. This is also a great wide-open area for primitive camping. If you've never done any rock collecting, gemstone hunting or have just thought about it, this is an excellent time and place to get started. It offers such tremendous rewards for so little effort.

Agate is a semi-precious gemstone formed by relatively recent volcanic activity. It is outwardly similar in appearance to quartz, but also shows interesting swirls, bubbles and patterns. Fire agate contains a variety of colors, highlighted by the refraction of light inside the stone. It is cut, polished and mounted by those in the know to make beautiful jewelry. It has been compared to opal, with its iridescent appearance, but is much harder and more difficult to cut. While many of the stones are white in color, the best specimens contain deep browns and reds, hence the name fire agate.