Hey there! I don’t know if you remember me, but you showed me photos of your off roading trips through the desert with your friends. One of the picks had you driving through a desert area with these white rocks/crystals everywhere. Do you remember where that was? I remember you remarked that all the rocks out there were like that.
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@Jeremy_Luna maybe?
Sorry to interlope; just guessing…
Younger guy with glasses?
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Probably Mathew the Aggie with the FJ Toyota with all the decals on it from the off road sites he has been too
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Hmm… guessing no.
I think Jeremy Luna looks like the guy in this pic
https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/user_avatar/talk.dallasmakerspace.org/jeremy_luna/120/11789_1.png
(from here Profile - Jeremy_Luna - Dallas Makerspace Talk)
So Tom’s probably right (he usually knows these things…)
@Lara_Olson
Big Big State Park.
There is a mountain bike trail head right next to the Barton Warncock Visitor center. One of the trails on it leads to this (pictured). I think they are quartz crystals? Any geologists on here?
Those rocks covered several football-field-sized chunks of land on that trail.
There is also a 4WD trail in that same park where they covered a larger area. The name of the trail is “Gaule 2”. However, that trail requires a vehicle with high ground clearance. 4WD is also reccomended.
If you shoot me a message, I’d love to answer any other questions you have. Big Bend is by far the best trip I’ve taken. I highly reccomend it, even if you don’t have a 4WD.
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Do you have a sample? Big Bend has some really interesting geology. I’m on my phone and I can’t see it very well, but my guess is qypsum.
I don’t, unfortunately. However, I remember that the crystals had well defined layers and would chip quite easily between those layers if you smashed them on the ground. Like how a 3D printed part is weaker in between each layer of the print.
EDIT: Just googled gypsum. The results are really similar. I think that was it.
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You just accidentally did geology! One of the ways that we identify minerals is by attempting to identify how hard they are–see: Mohs scale - Wikipedia
I’m fairly certain that it is gypsum now based on your observation:
Quartz is much harder.
Thank you!! I was trying to remember what park that was. Would I be able to hike along those trails also? Or are the solely for bikes? What time of year did you go?
I don’t have any kind of vehicle that could be considered even remotely “off road”, so I hope I’m not out of luck. lol - you guys should start an off-road extreme rockhounding tour company. I would definitely sign up.
Dang. I was hoping for quartz, since it is a good substrate. Gypsum is still cool though!
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Here’s a cool pdf guide for exploring the geology of big bend:
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Assuming you’re in good shape, that particular trail would be doable via hiking. If I recall correctly, it is about 4 miles out and 4 miles back in. If you have a bike, I would bring it. The MTB trails out there are great.
We went in March. Highs were in the high 80’s. If you go in the summer it will probably be too hot.
The National Park website had a lot of great info as well. Since you’re interested in the geological aspects of the park, check this out: Mariscal Mine - Big Bend National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
You can hike this one. Just don’t pick up any of the “quicksilver”! (Mercury)
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