Fourth of July Butte Agate
One drives through Arlington, Arizona, looking for a road named "Agua
Caliente" which is next to the old cattle pens at the outskirts of town.
The road turns to the right, and turns to dirt, after a few hundred yards.
Drive 14 miles. This is the start of the collecting area. The Chimney
Beds are off to the right. From here to Fourth of July Butte, and additional
5 miles or so down the road, is scattered with agate beds. Although this
collecting area has been popular for many years, and is hence somewhat picked
over, there is always something to be found if one is willing to walk and
look.
Although there is a fair amount of moss agate and even some sagenite to
be found here, the best stuff (my opinion) is the fortification agate, which
is mostly white on white, but sometimes has pale blue, purple or even red
at the center. What this agate misses in color variation, it makes up for
with the sharp definition and delicacy of it's banding. Some of this agate
even shadows, a phenomenon usually seen in Lakers and some Mexican agates.
A snow-white fortification agate with pronounced shadowing is a beautiful
sight. Unfortunately, the phenomenon does not photograph well.
Here are a couple of fairly representative agate cabachons from the Fourth
of July Butte area.
|
|