Oregon Rocks

We just returned from a trip to the John Day Fossil Beds Monument. The monument is located in the north-central part of the state of Oregon; about a 5-hour drive from Portland. We like to visit this location because:

- it is a beautiful part of Oregon
- there are not many people
- we like fossils and rocks

On the way out, we stopped in Madras at the Richardson Rock Ranch to hunt and dig for thundereggs. The ranch is quite large (of 20 square miles) and has been in the family for 7 generations. In addition to cattle ranching, the Richardson family allows people to hunt for a variety of rocks. They also sell rocks from around the world.

At first, we had no idea what we were doing. We drove to an area set-up for digging and pulled out our gloves, eye protection and borrowed rock hammers (provided at the ranch). The gloves and eye protection were great to have. Towels and water would have been good, too. Digging was a dusty process.

A knowledgable fellow showed up with his family and helped us to better understand what we were looking for. Thundereggs can have ridges on the outside that indicate the formation of a central agate region that is usually fairly crystalline in appearance. There are also mudballs that contain a lot of small round nodules on the outside and a fairly dense, dark center.  We picked up about 10 pounds of rocks - mostly thundereggs, but also a piece of obsidian and some rose quartz.

We will have to go to the Rice Museum and see if we can have the thundereggs cut open.

In terms of a family event - this was a great way to go. We could have spent the entire day at the ranch - especially if we had brought a lunch. There are several digging sites and the store and museum of interesting. Our son's imagination was running free while we were digging. He formed a rock-hounding partnership with another little boy and they were busy the entire time.

It would be helpful to do some research beforehand to know more about what to look for.