[meteorite-list] Glorieta - Taking The Hill

[Greg Hupe]

Dear List Members,

I just got back from a 5-day fun-filled meteorite hunt at Glorieta Mountain 
with about 14 of our fellow meteorite collectors/hunters. I would have to 
re-name it the "Meat Grinder" due to the rugged terrain which caused many 
cuts, scrapes, bruises and nearly every eye in the group to be almost poked 
out by branches hiding what we were after, Glorieta meteorites!!

This was my first hunt to the mountain, as well as about half of the group. 
On the first day, four small pieces were found, all under 20 grams each. The 
next day Patrick Hermann from Canada made the best discovery of the trip, a 
whopper of a find at about 5 kilos! My last day of hunting was April 24th. 
At 9:25 AM and 32 hours of swinging my detector coil on grass and small 
cactus, around boulders, over cliffs and under trees, it hollered a loud 
unmistakable screech which had a different sound from the numerous cans, 
wire and other garbage from the past. I brushed away the pine needles and a 
light coating of dirt to reveal my first Glorieta pallasite, a beautiful 
110.6 gram individual resembling a face. I've since named it "The 'Glorieta' 
Mask". At first I did not think it was a pallasite since the olivine 
crystals were coated by years of caliche and dirt. It wasn't until after I 
returned to the cabin that I cleaned it and was wowed again by the two large 
crystals which made the "eyes" of the face.

After the remaining part of the group returned from another outing, Bob Haag 
pulled out his surprise find of the day, a spike-shaped individual pallasite 
weighing around 150 grams, making his the second largest find, my the third 
and Patrick's the largest. These finds prompted the remaining group members 
to hunt an extra day or two which I am looking forward to hearing how they 
did. I hope they will share their individual adventures with us. I had a 
blast and will go back again as time permits. Glorieta is a brutal hunt and 
I take my hat off to all who have hunted it in the past.

Here are a few photos of the hunt and some of the finds:

Most of the group (can you put a name with every face?)
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0019.jpg
Rugged strewn field terrain.
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0020.jpg
A very happy Patrick with his 5 kilo find just minutes after discovery!
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0022.jpg
Celebrating Patrick's find (Thanks for dinner!!).
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0032.jpg
My 110.6 gram find, can you see the GPS coordinates ;-)
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0058.jpg
Three happy campers (L-R Greg, Bob and Patrick)
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0081.jpg
L-R - 110.6g, ~150g and ~5-kilo finds.
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/img_0084.jpg
110.6 gram after cleaning.
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/dsc00001.jpg
110.6 gram "The 'Glorieta' Mask" (Do you see the eyes, nose and mouth?)
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/dsc00002.jpg
110.6 gram individual - reverse image (note melted olivines - black color)
http://www.lunarrock.com/glorieta/dsc00003.jpg

I hope you enjoyed the photos and brief hunt story. I'm too beat up and 
tired from the hunt to write much longer.

Best regards,
Greg

====================
Greg Hupe
The Hupe Collection
NaturesVault (eBay)
gmhupe at tampabay.rr.com
www.LunarRock.com
IMCA 3163
====================