Seam Agate from the Kokernot o6 Ranch
by Sigrid Stewart
The Kokernot o6 Ranch near Alpine, Texas, continues to surprise collectors who visit the ranch! It is so large – 110,000 acres, of which perhaps three/quarters are rock hills composed of interfingered basalts and rhyolites – that there is room for many distinct agate sites. And just as the Woodward Ranch had distinct types of agates, like red and black plume agate and orbicular agate, so too does the Kokernot o6.
Steve Blyskal and I have now visited the Kokernot o6 Ranch 13 total days over 6 weekends in the past 3 years, repeating only 3 sites. It’s been lots of fun for both of us, but especially me. I used to visit the area from Midland, driving up Wild Rose Pass from Balmorhea through the rhyolite pinnacles and basalt mesas, wishing I could get up onto the mesa tablelands at 5000 feet. Now I can! Of course, there is a fee, and if we collect agate, we pay for that, but it’s all good!
This time around we visited two sites where we had previously collected, and a new one called Barney Hill. Our guide, Aaron Thomas, and James Wynn VI, one of the owners, have named various sites for friends, events (take a guess on Skunk Hill!), desert creatures (Scorpion Lake – no water!), types of agate (Sagenite Hill) and who knows what else. Barney Hill was a bit different – there was a lot of seam agate, which forms in cracks or faults. Aaron had found some really big pieces and posted a picture on Texas Rockhounds of him and 3 others carrying down a huge chunk of over 250 pounds.
Accompanying us on this trip were my daughter and two grandchildren, because I wanted the kids to experience a rock hunt in the Davis Mountains. We introduced them to Aaron and found out what sites we would visit, and the kids got a run-down on what to look for. So when we got to Barney Hill, up the hill we went to look around.
When you find a big hole it’s usually a good idea to inspect the immediate vicinity! Steve found an interesting prospect and started working on it and my daughter Jessica helped him. Paul, my grandson, began picking up pieces here and there. My granddaughter Alia helped several people, especially Aaron, with their digging and chatted with everyone about rocks and the desert, so different from the Houston area. I started looking at an area close to where someone else had excavated and spotted what looked like seam agate and started pulling pieces out. Rubbing dirt off the exposed edges revealed bright red agate with clear and lavender layers. Jackpot! Steve and Jessica soon abandoned the first piece to come down to help pull out more pieces.
I showed it to Aaron and he said he had found the same stuff nearby and suggested handling it carefully, because some that he found had purple drusy quartz on it. We collected a half a bucket-full, and I think it is going to be great lapidary material! In the meantime, Jessica had found another interesting piece and started working on it, and Steve went to check out the area where Aaron had been digging and found a slightly different tan and gray seam agate with a drusy coating and collected some of that. Then he went back to work with Jessica. That find got bigger and bigger and refused to budge. Eventually they came down and said they couldn’t move it. One of the other collectors said, let me help, and they went back up with a 5-foot pry bar. Leverage got their prize loose in 5 minutes! Of the by-now three pieces, they carried down two and had to leave the biggest one. Jessica is now the proud owner of a large and interesting agate specimen.
Then it was time for a break and some lunch. After that we headed to Sagenite Hill, where we had found sagenitic agate in the past. Now we just need find time to clean the material we found at Sagenite Hill that afternoon and at Happy Hill and The Window sites the next day. I’ll bet there’s some great stuff there too.