[meteorite-list] Exciting Spring Break Finds!

[Erik Fisler]

Hi all,
 
This past week was my spring break so I took
my friend Austin out for the week to find his
first meteorite.  We met up with Nate at Red
Lake Sunday and hunted with no luck.  Monday
and Tuesday we hunted the Gold Basin area and
camped on the GPAA claims.  We ran into
Stan, Jim Smaller and John Wolfe as well.
Nate purchased a nice piece of Palo Verde
Mine from John. My friend didn't find anything 
but I found 3 Gold Basin area meteorites.
Nate found two nice fragments in some pretty
hard hit areas.
 
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=2-10.jpg
71.6g's in 5 pieces
36.7g fragment
20.8g complete stone
 
Wednesday we hunted the South side of Franconia.
Nate found a small Palo Verde Mine L Chondrite
right on the surface. Unfortunately my friend and
I got skunked. On a good note, we ran into Stan, 
Moni, and Bob Verish.
 
Thursday  the three of us trekked into
Franconia's North side in search of some missed
Buck Mountain and Franconia's. Thursday Nate
found 3 individuals with great features.  My friend
found his first 2 meteorites ever.  The excitement
of his finds was very contagious and reminded me of
my first finds. I found a small 7.8g stone by eye
and a 2.3g Sacramento Wash 005 chondritic iron.
Friday my friend got skunked, but Nate and I made
out with some finds.  Nate found a few stones and
I had not found anything all day.  An entire hour
was dedicated to finding my friend who found himself
lost in the Warms Springs Wilderness area...
I found a 14.7g stone and then didn't find anything
for a few hours till I dug up a 25.5g stone.
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=1-12.jpg
 
Only a few feet from the 25.5g stone I walked over
a 587.8g Franconia. Around it were 4 or 5 puzzle
pieces to the stone.  
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=8-7.jpg
Insitu
 
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=3-9.jpg
Cleaned up
 
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=4-9.jpg
Assembled
 
here are some mirror pics
to give an idea of the shape.
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=6-9.jpg
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=7-7.jpg
 
On the underside of the stone was a bulging 1 to 2 gram iron pealing out.
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/phxerik/?action=view&current=5-8.jpg
 
[Erik]