Woodward Ranch Agate

Right this very moment my friends are in very remote Texas finding rocks of a life time.

I've been there with them and wish I could be now, so it seems appropriate to discuss the name Woodward ranch agate.

Jan and Trey Woodward are the owners of the ranch, Jan tells us there are 80 different agates to be found there. Well we were allowed to hunt in a area generally off limits and I found a yellow spotted agate there that I have not seen or shown before and when I showed it to Trey he had no clue so make it 81.

Some of the types of agate to be found there are Gold Moss, Flower Garden, Black and Red Plume, sometimes mixed which is rare indeed.

Our first trips goal was the red plume which had to be pounded out of the basalt as anything laying out in the open had been picked up before (if you do that wear gloves, I got the worst infection of my life doing it without). As we hunted and newer avenues were opened up we found some amazing rock. Most of which can't be named for its complexity or it just bloody escapes us.

Needle Peak, though a hundred miles south of the ranch it is owned and operated by Trey and Jan. What a amazing huge piece of rock it is. Home to the elusive Pom Pom agate. But many others also. It is a steep taxing climb though not without its rewards if you have a sharp eye. The back side is mostly unexplored. We got a quick tour and Trey even said he hadn't been there enough to guide it properly. I know that I walked away from many Pom poms not knowing what was laying there.

There is a cost, as with everything in life. First you have to get there. It is very remote SW Texas after all. Then spending your time finding and sorting the rock, and at the end paying for what you have found after all it is their land and you are taking it away piece by piece.

Just realized I hadn't explained all I wanted to or really the main point. What the name Woodward ranch agate comes down to is a complex mixture that we just can't pin point, but that is where it came from so very special, as it was hand collected and not some commercial scoop up and promote thing.