A field trip to the Little Acorn, Little Owl, and Sherman Pass.

On Saturday I returned to the Little Acorn Mine with a better idea where to look for garnets and quartz crystals. I was luck enough to have with me CFMS Field Trip Leader Lew Helfrich, and Assistant Leader Shep Goss. Shep screened the overburden by the mine entrance, while Lew and I plunged off the road down the steep mountainside below the entrance, digging into the decomposed granite for crystals. Shep also explored along the ore chute, then joined us amongst the oak trees. We found lots of crystal shards, and Lew found a couple of small crystals. We had fun, but found nothing to brag about.

After collecting some of the giant pine cones, we headed further up and over Greenhorn Pass - our next destination, the Little Owl Mine. The Little Owl is a bit off the road, and an adventure to get to. First there is a very steep sandy hill, then a slippery hill and dirt pile, and finally a huge log to carefully get around, without driving off the hillside!

Lew's truck made the first obstacle, but decided it wouldn't bother with the second one, so we piled his and Shep's gear into my Suzuki and on we went. There is alot of garnet and epidote at the Little Owl, and you can be picky about what you want to take home. I also got some yard rocks with garnet on them.

Shep had wanted to check out a location for some "bright green crystals" up the Sherman Pass Road, so we headed there next. This was quite a drive, back down to Wofford Heights, over to Kernville, then up to the Sherman Pass Road. Our only directions were " go to the first cattle crossing, make a u-turn, and stop at the rocks on the right one tenth of a mile back down." We kept driving and driving, climbing higher and higher into the Sierra's, and I began to wonder what damn cowboy drove his cattle way up here! Just before we were about to give up, we found the cattle crossing, and then the rocks. Unfortunately this was a wasted trip, as there was nothing worthwhile but the view. There were some cow pies, so somebody had cattle up here! I picked up some trash from the roadside, and raided Lew's cooler. Then we were off to our homes!