Katie Kelly Thank you! I’m a geologist and do try to explain things when I make videos! Thanks for your kind words!

@@GeoRockNerd Headed up to Jemez tomorrow to do some rockhounding! Wish us luck.

Katie Kelly I recommend the forest service roads east of Ponderosa for some excellent finds!

@@GeoRockNerd I'm coming from Santa Fe and I think we are going to hit the FR289 & FR268 for our first adventure. I'm hauling two dogs this round. Thanks for the tip and I'll share if we find anything fun!

@@katiekelly2047 were the FR289 and FR268 roads open? I've been seeing that they were closed

Yes! There are places in NM where the ant hills are made of piles of tiny garnets! Red ants are great miners! 😆

It's so easy, right out of the road and in the dry river beds! One of my favorite places to rockhound!

Nice! Is it clear or cloudy? I'm always curious about the properties of obsidian from other locations!

Thank you!

@@GeoRockNerd welcome to thecaptainshow

I am not sure if the roads up there are open in the winter, or how much snow there may be! You might want to check the forest service website or call the ranger station to make sure the roads are passable and open! The roads out there can be confusing. We take FS 10 to the Paliza Campground and then turn onto 266. The road is steep and there is a cliff on the right for a stretch of it. Then you turn right on DP-10 aka 137. We like to go down to where 137 splits off to the right, this is some miles down the road, but stay left until the next arroyo. This is Borrego Canyon and the arroyo gravel has Apache Tears here.

I wouldn't attempt that area until the snow melts. 4x4 and tire chains are a must for the single lane road with large cliff. If there is any snow you'll have quite the challenge finding anything. Emergency services are not close by and phone service is poor so prepare well if you attempt it.

@@mossyhollow3732 That’s good advice, Mossy! Thank you.

Well, fun ride. Zero snow. 50 degrees by the time we headed home. LOCKED GATE was a bummer. Didn't even get to the campground. Think I found a chunk of rainbow rhyolite. Not sure but pretty. We had a blast.

@@mossyhollow3732 no snow at all.

It was indeed fun! Thanks for watching! 😄

Fantastic!!! I love finding unknown locations for stuff, that’s amazing! Agatized coral sounds amazing too. Do you find Petoskey stones too where you are?

@@GeoRockNerd I have found one.... Central WI in the middle of a field! Planning a trip North end of Summer before returning to Soccoro Co., N.M. in Winter (& gotta hit White Oaks once more in my lifetime - Septarian Nodules!).

@@ronaldsteele5740 Nice, those Petoskey stones are great, would love to find one someday! And collect some Great Lakes agates too, of course! I’ve never been to White Oaks, are the nodules good there? I have found cool nodules and concretions in both Triassic and Cretaceous rocks around New Mexico, they are really fun to find!

@@GeoRockNerd I went in search of gold... Found none yet did find several Septarians. One whole & solid, a few crumbled in my hands leaving only a solid heart. Dark (unlike the Utah Septarians). I'll be bringing to N.M. a bucket or two with a mix of the Lake Superior Agates & Agatized Sponges/Coral (with a few nice agatized pet wood that has a beef steak grain look to the slices). Rockhound Rony's travelling barter show! xD

@@ronaldsteele5740 Sweet! Lets do a trade!

Oh yeah the fire encroached on 266, I’m sure the Forest Service is doing the post-fire assessments in the area. Hopefully the forest is opened again soon!

Thank you!

You can message me pics on Instagram! Not always the best way to ID things accurately, but I can take a stab at it! Thanks for watching!

You should! And rockhound through all the states on the way too!

@@GeoRockNerd would absolutely love to.. Can't get the hubby to join

@@MrsOx-jz9fg That’s too bad, I’m sorry. 😥

@@GeoRockNerd some day. I don't give up very easily lol. My dream is to get a RV and travel to rock hound and mine my own crystals and gemstones.. thank you😊😊

It’s just one of my favorite places, so glad you enjoyed it too! Usually the reddish tones are iron inclusions, like fire agate has goethite or limonite layered between chalcedony layers. It’s possible also that it’s a surface iron staining from the environment, that’s super common too. I haven’t checked this material for fluorescence but that’s a good idea! Thanks for your kind words and thanks for watching!

Yeah well they’re called that all over the world. Sorry.

If you take 266 it’s really bad in some spots, and way longer than the other way we like. We take 137 to 492/492-C to DP-70 which goes back to 266. There’s rough spots and you need high clearance and 4WD (a sacrificial paint job helps too 😆) but way easier than taking 266 the whole way.

266 starts at the Paliza Campground near Ponderosa. Please see the map at this link, it shows the campground and 266 aka Bear Springs www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/santafe/recarea/?recid=75800

@@GeoRockNerd Thank You, I will be videoing this trip

@@bobs-rocks If you look at my other Jemez videos, I have put the approximate coordinates of some of the collecting areas in the description. That might help you too!

@@GeoRockNerd Thank you, I will review them

Thank you Mitch! The area is amazingly full of cool stuff to find, plus it’s gorgeous out there! I’ve never been to Saddle Mountain but I own some material from there, it’s amazing! Would love to rockhound there someday. I did cut a few of the geodes, most were disappointing, but I will do a video of my results sometime!

@@GeoRockNerd Thanks for getting back to me! Awesome! Yeah that is a beautiful area with all the Ponderosa pines and nice scenery. I found some geodes in the southwest too, and 90% were kinda dissapointing, but still fun to find. some are nice, but like you said a lot of duds.

@@mitchgillilan Most of what I’ve found in the Jemez are solid rhyolite nodules or just filled with a dark muddy looking rock. Some few have bubbly blue chalcedony, which is nice! Southern New Mexico has much better geodes/nodules from what I’ve heard - down near Silver City/Deming!

@@GeoRockNerd - yes, rockhound state park has some very interesting areas, one of the largest outcrop exposures of obsidian ive ever come across in my life (up the south flank just above the smashed down fence-line lol), and is widely known for it's "thunder eggs" (nodules as you call them) ...and a nice old man in a rock shop near the entrance who'll tell you more than you'll ever need to know about "nodules", lol - you can walk around the entire top cap of the park (backside), but it's a very serious trek (no trail) and good way to break an ankle if your not careful - 'tons' of obsidian, literally I'm going down to whitesands this weekend and after I'm going to visit a spot i saw another tubber on, collecting crystals above Organ - I used some silos in the background and google earth to find the exact spot they were digging - doesn't have fencing but not sure if it's private land or not ...wondering how quick I'll be chased off, lol

@@gregj7523 Sounds fun, please share what you find if you have any luck!

The turn off for Ponderosa is a little ways past the Jemez Pueblo on Hwy 4, and before you get to Jemez Springs. From Bernalillo/Rio Rancho you take 550 north, then take 4 towards Jemez Springs. Once you are through the Pueblo, look out for the sign/turnoff on your right towards Ponderosa. There is a winery there and you will see signs for it on Hwy 4. I will try to speak up better in my videos, I have a loud voice and have tried not to be too overwhelming in my videos! Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!