# Are You A Rock Hound



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Found this neat rock/crystal/gem (I have no clue) last weekend while walking along a creek bed.

Anyone know what it is? The little piece came off this big piece when my son "just tapped" it with a hammer (that's another story







)

I put the Sharpie in there to give you an idea of the size.










.










.


----------



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Looks like Pink Quartz to me ... but you may have stuff out there that we don't have


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

wolfwood said:


> Looks like Pink Quartz to me ... but you may have stuff out there that we don't have


Sorry if this is a silly question but is "Pink Quartz" a name? Reason I ask it this bacially blue and green.


----------



## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

I would say that this rock is "flint" or "chert", from the photo and the fact that you said the small piece flaked off when tapped with a hammer. This sounds like a classic "flint knapping" description.

The Native Americans used to break off pieces like this and then use antler and bone to push against the edge of these flakes (small piece in your photo), chipping off even finer pieces and forming an arrowhead that had razor sharp edges (which I can see in your photo). A piece of leather, in the palm of the hand, protects your hand from the sharp edges while the required pressure is applied to the edges to flake off the little pieces.

Mike


----------



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Looks like Pink Quartz to me ... but you may have stuff out there that we don't have


Sorry if this is a silly question but is "Pink Quartz" a name? Reason I ask it this bacially blue and green.
[/quote]

It is a name - also known more formally as "Rose Quarz" - and the piece looks pink around the edges on my screen. (Really nice pink specimens are a really clear pink...but, actually, Pink Quartz can vary considerably in color, running from almost opaque white through various shades of pink to very gray. The center of your piece looks gray on my screen (ok - maybe a bit bluish) but - from here - that could just be an opaque / density thing. I don't know enough about the geology of the PNW to know if Quartz (there are 5 or 6 "varieties) is even something found out there....but there's LOTS of it on this side of the map. Found this....specifically about Rose Quartz, S. Dakota's State Mineral


----------



## Fire44 (Mar 6, 2005)

Looks like a big chunk of diamond....with gold running through it......

I give you $5.00 for it but you have to ship it to me!!!!

Gary


----------



## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

OH NO!!!!!! Thats the dreaded Incubiscus Difenderious.....when chipped it releases deadly gasses and leaves a slow, painful death!!!!!


----------



## Crismon4 (Jan 25, 2005)

I sent the picture to a friend of mine....he said it was hard to tell from the picture but might be a piece of carnellion agate.....for what it's worth









....or it may be Holly Blue agate.


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Fire44 said:


> Looks like a big chunk of diamond....with gold running through it......
> 
> I give you $5.00 for it but you have to ship it to me!!!!
> 
> Gary


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

battalionchief3 said:


> OH NO!!!!!! Thats the dreaded Incubiscus Difenderious.....when chipped it releases deadly gasses and leaves a slow, painful death!!!!!


----------



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Jim - here's some interesting info about Carnelian Agate


----------



## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

My DH is into Rocks & he sent me this link http://geology.about.com:80/od/stone_age_t.../stonetools.htm


----------



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

RizFam said:


> My DH is into Rocks & he sent me this link http://geology.about.com:80/od/stone_age_t.../stonetools.htm


Jim, this rock from Tami's link is a different color but looks to have a VERY similar structure!!
Rockl!


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Crismon4 said:


> I sent the picture to a friend of mine....he said it was hard to tell from the picture but might be a piece of carnellion agate.....for what it's worth
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Found this about 5 minuts upstream from Paradise Creek campground.....thought you'd like to know this as you like that campground.


----------



## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

I vote for Diamond.

When I showed this to Stacie, she disagreed and said it matches what is in my head.


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Calvin&Hobbes said:


> I vote for Diamond.
> 
> When I showed this to Stacie, she disagreed and said it matches what is in my head.


If it was a diamond, I'd have sold it by now and would be posting this message to all of you from my private island in the Caribbean.


----------



## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

wolfwood said:


> My DH is into Rocks & he sent me this link http://geology.about.com:80/od/stone_age_t.../stonetools.htm


Jim, this rock from Tami's link is a different color but looks to have a VERY similar structure!!
Rockl!
[/quote]

Yep I agree.


----------



## Acadia Hiker (May 29, 2007)

Agreed on the flint/chert, though it has a waxy luster. Could be chalcedony?


----------



## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

That looks like a weather rock to me. Right now it appears dry, so that means when the picture was taken, there was no rain.

That rock makes better forecasts than the local weather person on my tube!


----------



## Lois (Sep 28, 2006)

It looks like flint. Can you make a spark with it?


----------



## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I have found rocks that look like that I think it is Quartz but might be a type of Obsidian


----------



## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

It definetly looks like a rock of some sort!








I suppose you could verify by throwing it in water to see if it floats...


----------



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Jim,
Is it translucent (can you see light through it say for the chip that came off)? If yes then I'd guess it is agate. Central Oregon is a hotbed of agate and many other interesting rocks and gemstones (I've seen someone pull a $5000 gemstone out of a pile of mud so all you diamond jokers keep laughing!).

If you are serious about what it might be, I'd recommend contacting Richardson's Rock Ranch clicky and send them an email with the picture. Richardson's has the largest rock shop in the Northwest including a museum (you should see their 18" sphere made from a single quartz crystal!). If you give details on where you found it they might be able to identify it better.

Pretty rock.

Brian


----------



## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

nothing to add except

This thread ROCKS!! 

ok, i'll go now....








maybe i'll listen to a little ROCK n roll...
sorry, i won't ROCK the boat anymore









Somebody stop me!!!!!


----------



## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Its rare that we come up with a first....as far as questions go.

I agree with Dawn


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

tdvffjohn said:


> Its rare that we come up with a first....as far as questions go.
> 
> I agree with Dawn


Do I get extra point counts for coming up with an original question?


----------



## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Its rare that we come up with a first....as far as questions go.
> 
> I agree with Dawn


Do I get extra point counts for coming up with an original question?






















[/quote]
No, but you will after you invite us all to your private island


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

skippershe said:


> nothing to add except
> 
> This thread ROCKS!!
> 
> ...


Dawn, you are off your.....................ROCKER!!!


----------



## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Uh oh, here we go....


----------



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Its rare that we come up with a first....as far as questions go.
> 
> I agree with Dawn


Do I get extra point counts for coming up with an original question?























[/quote]

Yep - and your prize is another rock!


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

skippershe said:


> Its rare that we come up with a first....as far as questions go.
> 
> I agree with Dawn


Do I get extra point counts for coming up with an original question?






















[/quote]
No, but you will after you invite us all to your private island















[/quote]

You want a private island....go here
Private Island


----------



## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

I've always wondered where Sharpies came from, and now I know, out of a pink rock; and all you have to do is chip it and inside you'll find a Sharpie! Too cool! Did you find other colored rocks that had different colored Sharpies in them?


----------



## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

raynardo said:


> I've always wondered where Sharpies came from, and now I know, out of a pink rock; and all you have to do is chip it and inside you'll find a Sharpie! Too cool! Did you find other colored rocks that had different colored Sharpies in them?










I just know that somehow you are related to Doxie


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

skippershe said:


> I've always wondered where Sharpies came from, and now I know, out of a pink rock; and all you have to do is chip it and inside you'll find a Sharpie! Too cool! Did you find other colored rocks that had different colored Sharpies in them?










I just know that somehow you are related to Doxie








[/quote]

shhhh!







we don't everyone to know he and I are identical twins .


----------



## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

So, what happened to the rock?


----------



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

BigBadBrain said:


> So, what happened to the rock?


A ROCKet scientist is studying it?


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

BigBadBrain said:


> So, what happened to the rock?


I still need to send the picture to the guy in Madras. Would be neat to really find out what it is.

BTW...we also found a few thunder-eggs and a lot of small crystals (size of a dime to quarter). Kids have a blast looking for this stuff.


----------



## Crismon4 (Jan 25, 2005)

...that's "one" of the best things about that campground.....the boys and I have literally spent hours walking the creek bed (Paradise) one way and then up the Wind river the other...petrified wood, agates, thundereggs, agates galore, and who knows what else. We brought home an agate last summer, the size of an oversized softball....o.k. I can't talk about it any more, I just keep thinkin' about cancelling our last trip in late August and at this point, next summer seems a L-O-N-G way away









Did you all take the hike up the road to the waterfalls? I think it's upper and lower falls? about a 5 mile hike but completely worth it!

O.k. back to rocks now!!!


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Crismon4 said:


> ...that's "one" of the best things about that campground.....the boys and I have literally spent hours walking the creek bed (Paradise) one way and then up the Wind river the other...petrified wood, agates, thundereggs, agates galore, and who knows what else. We brought home an agate last summer, the size of an oversized softball....o.k. I can't talk about it any more, I just keep thinkin' about cancelling our last trip in late August and at this point, next summer seems a L-O-N-G way away
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep...we hiked up there. But, you can actually walk up the dry river bed (you can see it as you come over the log to cross the creek). Takes about 25 mins to get to the top..you'll have to belly crawl under a lot of low hanging branches at one point. When you get to the top...you see a small water fall, which all the kids now call "Natures Chug-a-Lug". We stopped picking up crystals that were smaller then a nickel during this hike....TOO much to carry.


----------

