[meteorite-list] Franconia field trip Part I
From: WAHLPERRY_at_aol.com <WAHLPERRY_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:10 2004 Message-ID: <de.4623ff04.2d9ee37c_at_aol.com> -------------------------------1080920444 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi List, With all of the recent posts about Franconia I thought I would give you an update. I have gone out to the area 5 times and really enjoyed meeting all of the meteorite hunters and the recognized finder of the original Franconia strewnfield John Wolfe. John was one of the nicest people that I have ever met. He gave me the layout of his strewnfield and that helped out alot. I found my first Franconia meteorite within one day. John has an amazing ability to spot meteorites. I would search an area and then John would go thru and find several meteorites that I had walked right past with my footprints over them. I was lucky enough to find 10 meteorites during the 5 trips I was out there. Most of these meteorites are around 400-800 grams. There has been some concern about the locals getting irritated by all of the meteorite hunters. They are not used to having dozens of people walk around their places and surrounding BLM property. I was approached by a local resident while traveling down a residential road and was questioned what was going on. He wondered if I was looking for meteorites. After a few minutes of talking to him I could understand why he was upset. He said that there had been a few meteorite hunters going on private property without permission. I suggested to him to post signs to inform hunters to stay off private land. I assume most of us would abide by this anyways but there were a few people who did not respect the private land. These people moved out there to have privacy and get away from the crowds. Just imagine how you would feel in the same situation. I know that most of us would be offended by people hunting on our land day after day for meteorites. I established a friendly relationship with one local couple. I explained to them that I would post to the list a letter requesting that we are especially conscientious of the private property. We should all work together to maintain our good image as meteorite hunters and collectors. On my last 2 trips which was a total of 5 eight to ten hour days in the field I recovered one 615 gram meteorite. The temperatures were very hot and it made hunting more difficult. The daytime temps were 90's. I also want to advise hunters to keep their eyes open because the snakes are out. I saw 2 rattlesnakes and 1 bullsnake on the last trip. This a known area for the Mohave green rattler. They are active in the morning sunning themselves and hunting in the evenings. Their daytime patterns are to be shaded under the shrubs/brush. This made my hunting a little nerve racking!! If you plan to go hunt Franconia bring lots of water. There are no established campsights but you can camp on BLM land for 14 days max. Out of the 6 meteorite hunters that I met in the field over the last trip there were only a couple of meteorites found. The largest I heard of was a fragmented 240 gram piece. I will send a 2nd post with a link to pictures later today. Sonny -------------------------------1080920444 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <HTML><HEAD> <META charset=3DUS-ASCII http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; cha= rset=3DUS-ASCII"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV>Hi List,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With all of the recent posts about Franconia I thought I would give you= an update. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have gone out to the area 5 times and really enjoyed meeting all of t= he meteorite hunters and the recognized finder of the original Franconia str= ewnfield John Wolfe. John was one of the nicest people that I have ever met.= He gave me the layout of his strewnfield and that helped out alot. I found=20= my first Franconia meteorite within one day. John has an amazing abili= ty to spot meteorites. I would search an area and then John would go thru an= d find several meteorites that I had walked right past with my footprints ov= er them. I was lucky enough to find 10 meteorites during the 5 trips I was o= ut there. Most of these meteorites are around 400-800 grams. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There has been some concern about the locals getting irritated by all o= f the meteorite hunters. They are not used to having dozens of people walk a= round their places and surrounding BLM property. I was approached by a local= resident while traveling down a residential road and was questioned what wa= s going on. He wondered if I was looking for meteorites. After a few minutes= of talking to him I could understand why he was upset. He said that there h= ad been a few meteorite hunters going on private property without permission= . I suggested to him to post signs to inform hunters to stay off private lan= d. I assume most of us would abide by this anyways but there were a few peop= le who did not respect the private land. These people moved out there to hav= e privacy and get away from the crowds. Just imagine how you would feel in t= he same situation. I know that most of us would be offended by people huntin= g on our land day after day for meteorites. I established a friendly relatio= nship with one local couple. I explained to them that I would post to the li= st a letter requesting that we are especially conscientious of the private p= roperty. We should all work together to maintain our good image as meteorite= hunters and collectors.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On my last 2 trips which was a total of 5 eight to ten hour days i= n the field I recovered one 615 gram meteorite. The temperatures were very h= ot and it made hunting more difficult. The daytime temps were 90's.&nbs= p; I also want to advise hunters to keep their eyes open because the sn= akes are out. I saw 2 rattlesnakes and 1 bullsnake on the last trip. Th= is a known area for the Mohave green rattler. They are active in the mo= rning sunning themselves and hunting in the evenings. Their daytime pat= terns are to be shaded under the shrubs/brush. This made my hunting a little= nerve racking!! If you plan to go hunt Franconia bring lots of wa= ter. There are no established campsights but you can camp on BLM land f= or 14 days max.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Out of the 6 meteorite hunters that I met in the field over the last tr= ip there were only a couple of meteorites found. The largest I heard of was=20= a fragmented 240 gram piece.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I will send a 2nd post with a link to pictures later today.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Sonny</DIV></BODY></HTML> -------------------------------1080920444-- Received on Fri 02 Apr 2004 10:40:44 AM PST |
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