[meteorite-list] RE: Recent Franconia Field Trip

From: WAHLPERRY_at_aol.com <WAHLPERRY_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Mar 21 13:24:54 2005
Message-ID: <7993ABA4.408349F5.0269C51E_at_aol.com>

Hi List,

I thought I would share some photos of our last Franconia meteorite hunting trip. I decided to go to Franconia to meet Larry Sloan. John Blennert was also there with some of his friends and his son JJ. The first part of the day I spent talking to everybody and trying to figure out how to hunt with all of the new vegetation. This year the grass and weeds are up to a couple of feet tall. It makes it hard to look visually for meteorites.
The second day Larry & I tried some new hunting tactics and tried to look for extended parts of the strewn field. This all failed. But John and his hunting partners found a few small irons and Franconia chondrites. While Larry & I were up in a wash exploring a new area it was raining off into the distance (at least 10 miles away). When we returned down the previously dry wash it began to fill with rainwater. We still managed to get back to camp safely. The rain can sure change the desert in a heartbeat. It was sure fun sitting around the campfire that evening hearing John's stories from his Oman trip.
The third day we decided to try another new area. We decided to meet up with John's friends, experienced gold prospectors.(I tried to find out where their secret gold hunting areas were but their lips were sealed!)We parted ways and I decided to go to a different area in the field. I had been to this spot before but now it was overgrown with weeds making it difficult to swing a detector. After 15 minutes I found a nice 65 gram Franconia. I decided to cross the train tracks to hunt the other side. After 3 hours I decided to head back to my ATV. About 40 feet from the train tracks I found a nice Franconia about 265 grams. I found it in a spot that was graded by a tractor many years ago. Maybe by railroad crews. This meteorite sat so close to the train tracks as you can see by my photo. I will have to spend more time in this area. The only problem is there is alot of buried metal, etc. along the tracks. I always photograph a meteorite in situ before I remove it. I started to take a picture and I heard a train c
oming down the tracks. I decided to wait for the train to include it in the picture. I was hoping the train conductor wouldn't see me and think I was some crazy person laying next to the tracks. As you can see the picture turned out really cool and the conductor never saw me.

Franconia is a great place to hunt meteorites. Because of all the rain we have had the vegetation and potential for snakes is greater than usual. After talking to all the hunters in the area we have concluded that the meteorites are getting harder to find but there should still be some nice ones hiding out there.It is always fun to meet new hunters in the field and here their stories. Geoff Notkin was nice enough to give me a link so I can show the pictures to everyone. He always does great work on the computer.
1.265 gram as found next to train tracks. 2. JJ, Bill Southern, John Blennert, Larry Sloan and Chris Dunn in the field. 3. Larry Sloan by the wash. 4. 65 gram as found.

  http://www.notkin.net/sonny/franconia-05.htm
Received on Sat 05 Mar 2005 11:24:33 PM PST