Mr-Meteorite

Waking up bright and early the first thoughts to myself as I opened my eyes were "today’s the day, today’s the day I find my first California meteorite!" I got up, grabbed my dog Maggie, threw her in the truck, and headed off to one of California’s dry lake beds to meet up with newbie hunter Dustin Stober.

Once I got to the lake bed, Dustin had already begun gridding off an area where he had made two previous finds. Closely observing the lake bed, I decided to head across it. I walked back and forth hour after hour, poking every dark rock I came across with no luck. I kept going, and going, and going, occasionally humming a tune in my head and just keeping at it. I figured I would eventually come across something if I was persistent enough. After a few hours I started getting hungry, so I walked back to where Dustin and I were parked to grab lunch and socialize a little bit. Dustin and I were both not having any luck so far, so we both decided to drive to a different part of the lake bed and try our luck elsewhere.

At the new spot, we kind of stuck together. Walking and tapping.... walking and tapping.... walking and tapping. The monotony was killing me! My god we must have walked over 8 miles already! The wind started kicking up 30+ mph winds creating dust storms and sand blasting our faces. Despite the sand blasted skin, we both kept at it. I was not going to let anything get in the way of my first California find because I knew it was there somewhere. I would occasionally look over at Dustin to see if he was having any luck... nada. After hunting this area for a few more hours, I came up with the idea for both of us to get in my truck, drive a few miles away, park and walk back to his car. So we hopped in my truck and headed out.

After parking my truck, we started out again slowly heading in the direction of Dustin’s car. However this time it was a lot easier to see the rocks since the sun was at our backs (a tip we both picked up from one of Rubens YouTube videos). This time around though, Dustin and I both didn't seem concerned about finding anything since it was starting to get late and the reality of getting skunked was starting to set in for both of us. We both seemed more concerned about socializing with each other than finding any space rocks. So we were walking, talking, and tapping rocks. All of a sudden Dustin stopped abruptly, put his cane down to the ground and I heard a "SNAP". Before he said anything, I already knew what that distinctive sound was. A split millisecond later Dustin belts out "GOT ONE!". He quickly pulled it off his magnet and put it back exactly where it leaped out off the ground. I pulled out my camera and snapped a few in-situ pics while Dustin logged the GPS coordinates. He pulled it up and we both closely observed it. Dustin’s find was gorgeous! A complete, fusion crusted 10 grammer.

Dustin’s find did two things for me- 1. It motivated me to get on the ball and find my first California meteorite, and 2. After closely observing it, I realized just walking around and tapping dark rocks was to time consuming. So I had to figure out a way to narrow down my search. I decided to focus on poking dark rocks that met three charactistics- It must have the shape, color, and texture of meteorites I have found in the past.

After closely observing Dustin’s beautiful find, a rush of energy started pumping through my veins and I thought to myself "now it's my turn" and I headed out aggressively searching. This time however, I focused on poking rocks that met the three characteristics I mention above. I figured this was a good way to narrow down my searching efforts. The sun was getting close to the horizon and I knew it was close to leaving time. Dustin had already reached his car and he was grabbing something out of his trunk. I was close enough to catch eye contact with him and he gave me the "time to go nod”. Accepting the reality of getting skunked, I started walking towards his car quickly poking as many dark rocks as possible hoping for anything. Eventually, I came across this little black rock that fit all three of the characteristics I mentioned. I put my cane down close to it and SNAP..... up came something. Pulling my cane up in anticipation I took a closer look and there it was. A complete, beautiful fusion crusted 3 gram meteorite; my first California find!

Dels find                                                                         Close up

Dustins find                                                                   Dustins find close up.