[meteorite-list] Dry Lake Grand Tour

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:17:46 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4F008_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi Mark, Adam and List,

So you all paid a visit to our lovely (and not-so-lovely) California
and Nevada dry lakes. Now you have first-hand experience with how
difficult hunting these can be.

> You are not kidding when you say most of the dry lake beds have
> black and red volcanic rocks everywhere. We literally had to
> search through tens of thousands of these black rocks to find the
> unreported strewn field.

After you've made 70+ trips to Mojave dry lakes, you won't even "see"
the black and red basalt/pumice any more. ;-) Comes with practice.
Still, many lakes have enough rocks on them that hunting by car is
quite impractical -- you have to hoof it. Or ATV.

> These dry lake expeditions are not for the faint-of-heart. To be
> somewhat successful you have to hike at least 10 miles a day zig-
> zagging from black rock to rock.

Only 10 miles a day? You guys are lolligagging... ;-)

> We searched seven dry lake beds, drove over 800 miles and must have
> hiked at least a hundred miles to find three stones so an extreme
> level of patience is required. In other words, these dry lake
> finds do not come easy.

Amen. Fortunately, most people don't have the patience for it.
Look forward to hearing which places you went so we can compare
horror stories. You have my condolences in advance if you went to
Soda, Bristol or the Cronise Lakes. And as Bob Verish pointed
out earlier, don't be surprised if your finds aren't the first at
your locale. The majority of our meteorite finds are still at
embargoed study areas.

Cheers,
Rob
Received on Sat 13 Dec 2003 01:44:24 AM PST