 Rockhounding
in San Diego County
 BOULEVARD,
CALIFORNIA—
As we left
the Jacumba area, we decided to follow a lead given to us by veteran prospector
Don Weaver. His directions led us up
into the mountains north of the little village of Boulevard, California.
Accompanied
by tireless rockhound Charlie Sedenquist, we headed off-road
in our trusty Phoenix One
looking for quartz outcroppings, the likeliest places to find
gems. We paused on the nearly vertical slopes of Mt. Tule
in the McCain Valley to admire the view from the Sacatove
Overlook. In the distance we could see several of the wooden
trestles and two derailed cars from the Impossible
Railroad, built in 1912 by sugar king John Spreckles.
All around us were trenches, tailings, and old mining claims,
clear evidence that we were not the first people to come to
Tule Mountain in search of tourmaline.
 After
threading our way along a narrow jeep trail, where the Phoenix acquired
a few more "character scratches," we found a dry wash full of
schorl-studded rock. Schorl, we were informed by Charlie, is an early
phase in the formation of gem-quality tourmaline, and its presence "means
you should keep looking for the good stuff."
Your RoadTrip
adventurers were not ultimately successful in finding a rock to retire
on, but we did have a great time looking. Megan
may have been bitten by the rockhound bug, but it's too early to tell
if it's terminal. Marvin got a pawful
of cactus spines, but was very brave while Mark
and Charlie pulled them out with tweezers.
|
