[meteorite-list] Mojave Trip Details and Images

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Dec 12 22:46:36 2004
Message-ID: <0d8001c4e0c4$c7fbdb40$6401a8c0_at_c1720188a>

Dear List Members,

I wanted share some details from the second annual Team LunarRock Mojave
hunt.

Last year, Team LunarRock consisting of six members was successful in
discovering three completely crusted meteorites in a very small strewnfield.
This was a new find from a very recent fall (less than four years according
to estimates provided by scientists). A name has not yet been assigned but
the latest word is that it likely will be called Fort Irwin after the
nearest post office box.

This years expedition was attended by nine meteorite hunters and success was
demonstrated by the recovery of two new finds. Over 100 miles of hiking by
each team member covering Coyote, Calico, Soda, Ivanpah and Jean dry lake
beds was required in order to secure the new finds.

The first stop was Coyote Dry Lake where Steve Drummond's truck became stuck
in the mud trying to access the south side of the lake. With the help of
Jim Strope pushing the truck sideways and some plywood we were on our way
again. After making it to the lake bed we had a difficult time searching
because it was somewhat muddy after the recent rains. As can be seen in the
image below, it is a very hard area to search because of all the black
volcanic stones present on the surface:
http://themeteoritesite.com/Coyote1.jpg

The second stop was Calico Dry Lake that produced nothing but trash. The
third stop was Soda Lake which is covered by white evaporative making it
impossible to search, don't waste your time.

Our fourth stop brought us to Ivanpah where we spent two days searching and
had great success. The first find was made by my girlfriend, Zann. We were
pleased that she found one because she came back empty handed last year.
This was her very first meteorite find and weighing in at 126.5 grams, it is
a nice one. It is about 80% crusted and is oriented. As far as we know,
this is the very first find made on this dry lake. Not to be outdone, Dr.
Ted Bunch found a completely different looking meteorite later that
afternoon. I do not have the weight on Ted's find but estimate it to be
about 70 grams with about 20% crust. Here is an image of Zann's find:
http://themeteoritesite.com/meteorite1.jpg

If you plan on searching Ivanpah, you must get a permit and plan on hiking.
No vehicles are allowed on the surface so plan on hiking at least 16 miles a
day if you want to be successful. We were parked on a road just 200' onto
the lake bed and were given a ticket by the BLM (watch out for white
trucks!). I don't know if it is true or not but the Park Ranger told us the
lake bed is highly radioactive because of tailings being dumped there
sometime in the past. There is also a large fenced off area where
experiments are supposedly taking place. There are some man made structures
but I have no idea what is taking place here but would stay away from it so
as not to raise any attention to yourself. If anybody knows anymore about
this I am very curious.

In the Reed's hotel room we kicked back a couple of cold ones and took this
image of the finds:
http://themeteoritesite.com/Finds1.jpg

We then took a day off and toured the Valley of Fire. We ran across this
scene while on route to explore the many natural wonders found in the area:
http://themeteoritesite.com/ValleyFireBus1.jpg

Finally, our last stop was Jean Dry Lake bed where nothing was found except
bullets. While on this lake bed we felt and heard several sonic boons. It
was kind of eerie like a low level earthquake, hard to explain. It would
have been interesting to see the military aircraft that generated the booms.
Jean Dry Lake bed is fairly small and a lot of people target practice so be
careful. Mark Jackson, now renamed "Action Jackson" after this expedition
heard a bullet zing over his head because the backstop a shooter was using
was inadequate. Unnerved by this we decided it was time to leave. Here is
an image of Jean Dry Lake:
http://themeteoritesite.com/JeanDryLake1.jpg

Hope to see more people attend next year. And if you make to Tucson we are
gong to try and do a Wilcox Dry Lake hunt Saturday if the weather permits.

All the best,

------------------------------------
Adam Hupe
The Hupe Collection
Team LunarRock
IMCA 2185
raremeteorites_at_comcast.net
Received on Sun 12 Dec 2004 10:35:23 PM PST