The Good News is.... Here’s the schedule through January 2019!

This year, I have 4 ranches available for rockhunting. I’ll be leading a set of 4-day weekends of rockhunting, with one of the four days on each ranch. I will change the order of the ranches for each weekend, so that if you can only come on one day of the week, you can still get to each ranch. Here is the schedule for November, 2018 through January, 2019:

Date	Time	Trip Location	Leader
Thursday, 11/8	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Friday, 11/9	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Saturday 11/10	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person
Sunday 11/11	8:00 a.m.	Stillwell Ranch	50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Thursday 11/22	8:00 a.m.	Stillwell Ranch	50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Friday 11/23	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Saturday, 11/24	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Sunday, 11/25	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person
Thursday, 12/13	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person
Friday, 12/14	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Saturday, 12/15	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Sunday, 12/16	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Thursday, 12/20	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Friday, 12/21	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person
Saturday, 12/22	8:00 a.m.	Stillwell Ranch	50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Sunday, 12/23	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Thursday, 12/27	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Friday, 12/28	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Saturday, 12.29	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person
Sunday, 12/30	8:00 a.m.	Stillwell Ranch	50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Thursday, 1/24/19	8:00 a.m.	Stillwell Ranch	50 cents per lb. of rock you take
Friday, 1/25/19	9:00 a.m.	Ritchie Ranch	$10 entrance fee plus $1/lb
Saturday, 1/26/19	8:00 a.m.	East Needle Peak	$40 per person
Sunday, 1/27/19	8:00 a.m.	South Larremore Ranch	$50 per person

As usual, all trips start in front of the Antelope Lodge, 2310 W. Highway 90, Alpine. To reserve your place on a trip, email me at agatehunter@sbcglobal.net. Payment for the trip is not due until the morning of the trip. All the ranches accept cash or check, and the Stillwell also accepts credit cards. At least one person in your group needs to be a member of the Rollin’ Rock Club to go on the trips. Cost is $10 per year for a single membership and $16 for a dual membership, purchasable at the time of the trip.

If no one is signed up for a trip 48 hours before it starts it will be cancelled. Once cancelled, it can’t be “un-cancelled”. So be sure to sign up!

Since the Antelope Lodge has changed ownership, the prices have gone up somewhat, and the amenities are different. But the reservation website name is the same, www.antelopelodge.com.

As for the bad news, I’m sorry to report that another of the classic rockhunting locations, the Walker Ranch, is permanently closed to rockhunters. It has been sold to the Wood family, who purchased the Woodward Ranch several years ago. They had bad experiences with rockhunters after purchasing the Woodward Ranch, and they do not care to open it up to us. Even the name “Walker Ranch” has disappeared: it’s now part of the Wood ranch.

The winds of change are also blowing through my life since we sold the Antelope Lodge last December. For a number of reasons, this will probably be the last year that I lead field trips for the full Fall-Winter-Spring season. So if you’ve been waiting to for a compelling reason to come out here, that’s it. I don’t know what the schedule will look like for the 2019 -2020, but my guess is that it will be compressed into a fairly hectic month or two. I’ll post the new developments in my life that have led to this decision on my webiite or tell y’all when you’re out here rockhunting.

I hope to see y’all this winter!

Regards,
Teri

Hi y’all! It’s been one heck of a winter, and I’m only now crawling out from under the mound of paperwork (22 years’ worth) that had to be sorted and organized for our taxes this year.

Below is the schedule for the spring. Underneath the schedule are details about each ranch. The schedule and details are cleverly color coded to make things easy to find. I intend to have some rockhunts the first week in May, but that schedule will have to come later.

Note that there ARE trips to the Walker Ranch. Like the last set of Walker Ranch trips, you’ll go in and out of the ranch with me at preset times. NOTE THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE THE WALKER RANCH TRIPS LISTED ON MY WEBSITE. Don’t let that worry you. The owners of the Walker Ranch want to keep the hunts quiet and only offer them to those of you on my email list.

Also, the Stillwell Ranch is up for sale. As we know what may happen to rockhunting opportunities once a ranch sells, I would suggest visiting that wonderful spot this spring, in case it becomes unavailable in the future.

Remember that you need to be a member of the Rollin’ Rock Club to go on my trips. Memberships are $16 per year dual and $10 per year single, payable at the time of your first field trip.

East Needle Peak	Start Time:	8:00 a.m.
	Cost:	$40 per person, cash or check. No credit cards.
	Details:	About 100 miles south of Alpine. High clearance vehicle required, 4wd recommended. Some hiking and climbing required to reach agate areas. Finds can include agate, jasper, flint, quartz crystals, petrified wood, calcite, aragonite, selenite, and aquatic fossils. No collecting of live plants.
Ritchie Ranch	Start Time:	9:00 a.m.
	Cost:	$10 entrance fee per person and $1 per lb. for the agate you take. Cash or check, no credit cards.
	Details:	Extremely close to Alpine. Accessible in most vehicles. Terrain is rolling hills: very little climbing involved. Great for families with kids, new rockhounds, or those with limited mobility. Finds can include agate, jasper, and quartz crystals. No collecting of live plants.
South Larremore Ranch	Start Time:	8:00 a.m.
	Cost:	$50 per person. Cash or check, no credit cards.
	Details:	About 40 miles south of Alpine. Terrain in many areas is flat, but hunting in the creek beds can be steep and difficult. Some areas accessible by passenger car, but high clearance vehicle is recommended. Finds include agate, jasper, quartz crystals, flint, petrified wood, calcite, aragonite, selenite, and an occasional fossil.
Stillwell Ranch	Start Time:	8:00 a.m.
	Cost:	No entrance fee, 50¢ per lb. for what you take.
	Details:	About 45 miles south of Marathon, which is 30 miles east of Alpine. Roads rough in many places. High clearance vehicle recommended. Finds include agate, jasper, quartz crystals, flint, petrified wood, calcite, aragonite, selenite, and an occasional fossil.
Walker Ranch	Start Time:	8:00 a.m.
	Cost:	$75 per person per day. Cash or check, no credit cards.
	Details:	About 18 miles south of Alpine. Roads can be rough. Many places accessible by a passenger car, others require a high clearance or 4wd vehicle. Finds can include agate, jasper, quartz crystals, calcite and aragonite. No collecting of live plants.