Greenhorn Mountains
Fri-Sun
August 27th-29th

This Trip is to be a weekend field trip, but I know that many can only do a Day Trip.  Friday will be the "Drive to the Campsite and Set Up" day. Friday the 27th around 6pm into the evening, when it gets dark we will  try our luck at getting the Tungsten Ore. If you have a short wave ultraviolet light bring it. I have one, but it would be great if others brought theirs. Saturday morning, we will head out to the Rose Quartz at about 10am. This is to accommodate those driving up that morning. It should take about 3.5 to 4 hours to drive to the Campsite from Ventura, so get up early and drive safe. Saturday late afternoon, we will head out for the Epidote and Garnet source. There will be some hiking on this Trip, but mostly on dirt forest roads. We can try the Tungsten again on Saturday evening, and that will be up to how many want to go.
Sunday morning, we will hit the Rose Quartz again and will start early, about 9am, as we need to pack up and head for home that afternoon.  Deb and I will be stopping at Ant Hill if there is time on Sunday, we'll be digging for shark teeth fossils.

Information: The campsite is a Dry Site. No Water, No Hook-ups. If you are camping over, you will need to bring water for drinking and cleaning. I recommend filling a five gallon water cooler jug with your tap water and bottled water for the Hiking and stuff. This is a Pack In / Pack Out trip. We are responsible for our own trash and we need to set an example as RockHounds.

Fire permits will be required I will be getting one, we will need at least one more permit for the group. They can be bought in Bakersfield on the way up to the campsite. Campfire Permit BLM office in Bakersfield at: 3801 Pegasus Drive. They will be open from 7:30 am - 4:15 pm on Friday. Telephone: 661-391-6000 and Kernville Office at 105 Whitney Road Kernville, Telephone: 760-376-3781.

Directions: Panorama Dry Camp, 7 miles north of Greenhorn Mountain County Park off Highway 155 in the Sequoia National Forest. Lat. N35d 48.51', Long. W118d 34.34'   There will be a map at the Aug club meeting.

What to Bring: bug spray, warm clothes for the cool nights, light clothes for the sunny afternoons, hiking shoes, sunscreen, large brim hat,  shovel, rock hammer or pick, gad or chisel, sledges, collecting bags, buckets, day pack, eye protection, sturdy shoes, drinking  water, trash bags, fire wood, and the usual stuff you bring when you camp.

What to find:
Rose Quartz, a semi-translucent quartz colored pink to lavender by small amounts of Titanium atoms. This variety of rose is reported to have an asterism or six-ray star when polished properly. The quartz is in the cliff face that you will be walking down. You will need to bring heavy sledges and chisels to break away  large pieces of quartz although there are lots of small stuff. The quartz is somewhat fractured but well healed.  There are lots of small gemmy pieces down the hillside.

This is a private mine claim, we will have permission from the mine owner to dig there for the field trip.

Epidote, a Yellowish green to Brownish green to Black crystal that is long and transparent to translucent The crystals are shaped like Slender Prisms (e.g. tourmaline)

Garnet, of the Grossular variety. These well formed crystals, are Brown to Orange in color and transparent to sub translucent.

Tungsten Ore, of the Scheelite variety. A fluorescencing mineral has been found in many of the mountains and road-cuts.

We will venture out for this collecting after dark, as the use of a Black light is vital.

Contact: Robert Sankovich  805-494-7734,   rmsorca@adelphia.net
        Mike Miller  805-498-9586, rockfmdr@aol.com
        Please let us know if you are going to go on the field trip