Prime Rib Rocks

I call this a Prime Rib rock!  Just look at the flaming red color marbled with white.

Close up, it looks even more like a good steak!

Similar stone with a darker hue of red.

This is what I call Christmas Stone.  It is more orange in color and has green agate mixed in.  The orange-red color is more of a flint or chert-like stone.

Again, I sharpened the photo and increased contrast to make the image more clarified, but did not alter the color in any way.

Stones found in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

Sandstone ball-shaped concretions

 

 Non-sandstone ball-shaped stone

Banded Ironstone found by Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming

Found in dry creek bed on west side of Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

Found by creek east of the Bighorn Mountains - has some agate in it.

Orange lichen growing on this rock give it a flowery appearance

Love the feather-like crystaline pattern on the surface of this stone.

Rocks Found in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

Rocks found by Ten Sleep, Wyoming by the Bighorn Mountains

This is the area I went rock hunting at last weekend.

This is near the town of Ten Sleep, Wyoming.

What did I find?

Agate.

And some purplish-blue-reddish chert.

You can't find this stuff anywhere on the eastern side of the Bighorn Mountains; thus I make the trip over the mountains to find it.

This stuff is absolutely gorgeous!

This stone is a mixture of agate, chert, etc.!  You can see crystalization on some areas.

The agate in this piece is cloudy.  The red on the exterior is from the red soil I found it at.

Many of these agate specimens appear to have geode qualities.

This is a piece I found in this same area a year ago.  I've been hand-polishing it.

This piece is about 9 inches in length.

This piece has crystalization on the top, with a bubbley interior.  Perhaps the rock was at one time liquid, and then cooled?

The color of the agate in these stones is almost a cornflower or periwinkle blue in color.

This is in my opinion the best specimen I have found in this area.  I found it last year, and it is a sheer delight to behold!

Here is another view of it.

Tomorrow I plan to explore and hope to find more things like this -- stay tuned!

new rocks found by Thermopolis, Wyoming

Fuchsite

Christmas Agate

Grey Quartz

I just love this grey quartz; it is plentiful in this area.

Gypsum (Selenite) Crystals with Calcite

These are abundantly found where I live - gypsum crystals. Here these have yellow calcite on them.  They pick up the surrounding soil, which was grey in color.  These are also considered the mineral selenite.

Muscovite, Mica, Fuchsite, Lepidolite

I found all of these rocks by Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.

I'm still learning to identify rocks.
The large white rock with mica flakes (photos 3 and 12 above) I believe is "Muscovite Mica".
 
The area has lepidolite, fuchsite and aventurine.
I believe the rocks that are mostly made of mica are fuchsite. These have pink, green or black hues.


Some brands of toothpaste include powdered white mica that acts as a mild abrasive to help polish your teeth, and also adds a cosmetically-pleasing glittery shimmer to the paste. The shimmer from mica is also used in makeup, as it gives a translucent "glow" to the skin or helps to mask imperfections. Its also used in automotive paint to make it glisten.  Its added to potting soil too and has many other uses.

The earliest use of mica was in cave paintings.