Hidden Universe

Exterior : Raw and Colorless

Interior : A  Hidden World of Blue

Most of the well-known Owyhee jaspers come out of named sites, with private claims and - typically - heavy equipment. I follow the low-rent strategy, searching for intriguing rocks in canyons and gravel bars.  The challenge is that most of the things I find don't look like much. As I have pointed out several times in previous posts, it often takes a rock saw to show what's hidden inside.

This is a perfect example. The upper picture is of a rock I collected somewhere in the Owyhee area (I didn't keep track). Like many of the jasper fragments I've found it is covered with an orange weathering crust that reveals very little of the rock's internal structure.

The rock saw, however, revealed a blue universe inside the rock that I would never have suspected, full of color and crazy patterns: a real surprise.

First Creek Jasper

Jasper, First Creek

There is a well-known location for agate and geodes in First Creek canyon, on the Blewitt Pass highway north of Ellensburg.  (see:  http://happyrockhound.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-creek.html)  I have passed by there several times on my way other places, but have never really explored the upper parts of the watershed. However, earlier this year, I did poke around the lower creek a bit, on the assumption that rocks wash downhill...

One of my finds was a weathered brownish lump that revealed just a hint of patterning inside. On a hunch, I tossed it in the bag and brought it home for the polisher.  This is what it looks like now,  after the final polish, a rather graceful stone of brown, orange and a streak of blue-gray. In other words, quite unlike anything I have ever seen come out of First Creek.

Maybe it's a glacial remnant from somewhere else, or part of a filled cavity somewhere in the local basalt. Either way, it's my "rock of the day."

Unexpected Fossils

Fossil leaves/needles, Owyhee country

Sometimes, when I am in serious rock-collecting mode, I am picking things up on a whim - a flash of color or pattern might catch my eye. But I generally don't spend a lot of time inspecting each one. Often they just go into the bag for future study. Maybe this is why my car rides so slow when I come home from a trip!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I was recently collecting in one of my favorite areas, the Owyhee mountains on eastern Oregon. I have been sorting through the specimens I collated, tossing out some, and polishing those that are worth the effort, especially picture jaspers. (see earlier blog post)

But this one was a surprise, different from anything else I saw, and with a pale purple that caught my eye. I tossed it in the bag and only took a closer look today. Breaking off a piece revealed an inner layer  crammed with leaf fossils. I haven't identified them, but they look like conifer needles, twigs etc. strewn throughout a single layer in what I am guessing is rhyolite tuff. A nice surprise!

Christmas Morning

Owyhee Jaspers revealed

One great advantage of a rock saw is that you can non-destructively look inside a weathered rock whose outward appearance is almost nothing like its inside. I have just come home from eastern Oregon with huge amounts of jasper from the Owyhee country, but very rarely are the patterns and colors obvious through the weathered crust. Some things that look intriguing on the surface are dull inside. However, the reverse is also true - some real treasures have no outward sign of what's inside until you break them open - or use a saw.

In the past I had nothing more than a rock hammer to see what was inside - but jasper is really just a natural glass, and often cleaves and shatters in unexpected, and unwanted, ways. I hate to think about the number of really fine rocks that have disintegrated under my hammer! A lot of weathered picture jaspers, for example, are riddled with cracks, which is precisely why there are such great patterns in the first place. These clearly have no business being hammered...

The saw, meanwhile, provides a window into the rock, without risking damage. Now, all I have to do is choose the pieces that look good - like the three above, which I just cut yesterday from very humble fist-sized pieces. The best  go into the tumbler to smooth out the rest of the stone.

After this last trip, I've got many, many more waiting to be opened up.  Can't wait.

Crazy Mixed-up Jasper

Owyhee Jasper

For years now, I have been in love with the stunning variety of colors and patterns that jasper can take on. And when you are talking about colorful jasper, it's hard to beat those from the amazing Owyhee Mountains of Eastern Oregon. Yes, I find plenty of interesting things around my home near Puget Sound, but several times a year I make the 9-hour drive out to this, my favorite rock location on Earth.

I spent just a few days there this time, collecting in the Succor Creek drainage and along Leslie Gulch. To be honest, I stuck to some pretty familiar, accessible locations. Frankly, if it hadn't been 95 degrees I might have explored further away from the roads, but I promised my wife I wouldn't do anything too crazy. What's truly amazing is how much there still is, within easy reach.

As I may have mentioned before, my inspiration has been Hans Gamma's breathtaking collection of Owyhee area jaspers both on his website and his book.   He knows some really hidden corners of these mountains that some day I will get to. But for now, I have several hundred pounds of jasper to sort, cut and polish.  Stay tuned for results.

Skokomish Obsession

Orbicular Jasper, Skokomish River

Somebody stop me. I have made two trips now to the Skokomish River looking for orbicular jasper. Today was a beauty, sunny and warm, and the river was running gin clear (see photo below). Good conditions for looking for jasper. As before, there are loads of interesting jaspers on this river, but very few have well-defined red orbs, so you spend a lot of time picking up stones, and then discarding them.

This one was high and dry on the gravel bar, and jumped out because of its vivid color.

I found others in the water, as in the photo below. The only trouble is...you can't see the water. Believe it or not, these rocks are under a smooth sheet of water, e.g. just about perfect for scanning for rocks. And surrounded by drably colored rocks, the red jasper almost jumps out at you!

The Skokomish Runs clear in August

Hands and Knees Jasper

Cherry Creek Red Jasper

No, I haven't discovered a new type of jasper - the title of this post refers to how I spent most of my day today...on my hands and knees (in the water)

 I decided to go out this morning to Cherry Creek, near Duvall, Washington, to look for bits of high-quality red jasper. I had been there two years ago, and all I can say is, plants grow fast here in the Northwest. This small creek was walkable last time I was there - this time I was literally crawling up the creek, under an almost solid thicket of shrubs and small trees.

The only upsides to this technique are 1) I was a LOT closer to the stream gravel, so I could see some of the bits of jasper which tend to be small. and 2) I suspect I was the only person willing to put up with this - there was a pretty good scattering of jasper once I left the "easy" part of the creek.

This location has been well-known for decades, and a lot of mineral clubs have field trips to the site,

(see: http://home.comcast.net/~wams1939/trips/cherry.htm)

so it's not exactly easy pickings anywhere. But it is close to home, and there is always the promise of a really nice bright piece of jasper. Not sure I found it today, but I got a nice bag full in a couple of hours.
Having said that, I probably won't be back without a machete...