Digging Thundereggs at the Lucky Strike Mine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2020
- The Lucky Strike mine has made my top ten list for spots to rockhound in Oregon for sure. The location is wonderful, the owner is nice, and the material is top-notch. If you have the chance to go here during summer 2020, do it!
A few things to keep in mind when heading out to this location. This site is not passenger car friendly, you're about an hour from civilization, there is no cellphone coverage, and this is not the place to bring a trailer or RV since the road is very narrow in places and turning around is absolutely an issue.
For current hours of the Lucky Strike you can find them on Facebook:
/ lucky-strike-mines-114...
Location & GPS Information:
currentlyrockhounding.com/luc...
Thanks for watching!
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#Thundereggs #LuckyStrikeMine #Rockhounding
Did you enjoy this video and find it to be informative? You can help ensure that more videos just like this get made by supporting the project on Patreon. www.patreon.com/currentlyrockhounding
Was amazed by the red fortifications in the one thunder egg. I would probably turn it into a cab.
thundereggs and geodes are high on my bucket lists of things id like to find =) i love that saying a thunderegg can be a geode but a geode cant be a thunderegg hehehehehehe
THUNDEREGGS!!!! Can't wait to see them.
Just got back from our second 2022 adventure. A little cool and rainy than is typical for this time of year (mid-June), but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and came away with some nice items. On our way back to our camp after visiting the Condon Paleo. Center earlier in the week (near Dayville on OR Hwy 19), we stopped to have a bite to eat in Mitchell, OR and found that the local rock shop was open. We selected a few pieces of raw material and found there were some baseball-sized Lucky Strike eggs - grabbed a couple of them right-quick! As we were meandering through the selections, we struck up a conversation with Cindy, the shop's proprietor, and as it turns out, the matriarch of the Lucky Strike family claim!
During our conversation, she stated that the reason why the mine is closed is because the two main digs (of the three on the claim) have dried-up. They need to 'bond' the digs back to their natural state before they can scout-out/prospect new claims. That process (bonding) is pretty expensive and time consuming, requiring much permitting and inspecting, and to then take more time and expense to prospect again... from my perspective, it doesn't look like new claims are going to be much of a priority since most of the family's energy would be expended on returning the digs back to a more natural state.
We're just counting ourselves fortunate that we were able to obtain LS eggs from >this< near to the mountain-source, and to hear the story direct from the claim's holder. At any rate, just thought we'd pass this info along. Please feel free to correct and/or verify as needed as we may have misunderstood some of Cindy's comments.
Thank you Jill, because of your comment here I just stopped by the shop in Mitchell and scooped up some additional eggs myself. Who knows what the future for this location will hold.
Thank you!
@@CurrentlyRockhounding Happy we were able to kick up some info.
UPDATE: The Luckystrike Mine will be open for the 2021 digging season.
Hello CR, thanks for the update
Closed for the 2022 season, sad!!
I was at Richardson ranch and the dirt was like rock. You really needed a pick, which I didn’t have. So I did what you beautifully illustrated, I picked up other’s rejects.
I hope you found some good stuff up there.
Wow cool man!
Its a really good spot.
A super treat to go to the Lucky Strike and indulge in opening the eggs vicariously. Love those mossy reds! So sad about Richardson's (went there on our honeymoon, lol) and now Lucky Strike. There are still good eggs out there to find. Thanks for another great video.
Just a few weeks ago I saw on the Luckystrike facebook page that they might reopen some this spring since they had such a good season. I wish Richardson's would reopen for digging.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding Yeah, I saw that too, hoping to get out that way this summer as we've only been to the other collecting in the area. We filled a 5g bucket the last time we were at Richardson's, haven't opened them all, and I can't believe that will be my last. Now they're precious! I really hope that they open back up again too. I realize they were pretty burned out.
I've seen a couple lucky strike eggs that had mushrooms growing inside of them (actual live mushrooms/fungus)
Needless to say...it was intriguing.
That's wild man.
What a haul! The beauty of the good ones far outweigh the duds. Nice place. nice finds. Good day there. Havagudun to you both.
Really even the duds are not that bad for the most part. Thanks for watching!
All those were beautiful you cut open. Can’t wait to see what those last two massive ones look like inside that you last pulled out. Thanks for the cool vid. Looking forward to the next geology video.
Thanks man! Unfortunately They don't fit in my saw so I need to take them to my rock club at some point and do some big cuts. Ill be sure to show them when I do.
Currently Rockhounding sweet can’t wait. I also just got my tile saw in so I will be setting it up in the next week and try out cutting some stones using the blade that came with it. Then will cut open the thunder egg you sent me. I’m stoked
Looks like a lot of fun digging them out and they did look nice when cut thanks for showing us🍻
It was absolutely worth it!
We went last year and had so much fun. Wonderful owners and beautiful scenery
It really is an amazing place.
LS eggs are great cutting... Nice video....
Thank you!
I have a rare egg from LS mine...
Love those thunder eggs. I went geode hunting today. Thanks for taking us along
Where did you go? Find anything good?
@@CurrentlyRockhounding southern Indiana to family friends farm. Sadly there all solid milky color
Excellent 👍. Still working out the logistics to attempt recording some of my own. Love stones.
#RockOn
LOL, I thought the first one you cut was pretty!
They sure are nice!
Cool. Wish I could go. But driving across the continent is a bit more than I can handle right now. Really cool pieces once cut
Awesome! So glad you did this video. Really want to go there and needed to know what to expect for my tag-a-longs. Where did you say the blue geode is from?
Thanks again. So cool.
You're welcome! Go check out the Little Naches videos that I have up, its a location in central washington.
Wow, beautiful rocks! It looked like it was very well set up for access to the wall of thunder eggs. Too bad they're closing. I hope it isn't due to some bad behavior at the mine. Thanks for sharing your experience.
It's a great site. They are closing cause the couple that runs it just had a baby and living at an off grid mining camp 30 miles from anything is proving to be too much.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding Oh! That's perfectly understandable!
What a small world. We were up digging at White Fir Spring in the Ochocos just a week ago. Not a pay site, so you really have to search around to find the best spots - but we pulled out dozens of large thunder eggs. These ones were filled with bright and colorful jasper: twitter.com/nagmay/status/1278331976492040192
Very cool! White Fir is on my list of places to go for sure.
👁👁 👋
A place like this that has them exposed is nice. I pulled two baseball size ones from Whistler springs and it was insane work just getting to the layer they form at. But I'm cheap and don't feel like paying someone for rocks the earth gives up for free .
Whistler Springs, is a good location for sure. I hear what your saying about paying for rocks and almost 100% of our rockhounding is done in public places but it can also be nice to go to a pay dig site like this where its more akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding ya I agree. Might take the fam to the mine looks fun.
Well, its closed now, possibly for good.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding why for good? I knew they all closed seasonally.
Me again…. I’m watching some of your Oregon videos. We are staying in Bend one or two more days before heading west towards the coast. Is the Lucky Strike Mine worth the trip (looks like it’s less than an hour drive from Bend)? Thank you!
You should check there Facebook page to make sure they are opened still and didn't close for the season.
Oh man the lucky strike is on my bucket list, gonna have to get over there before the close! There is one place that's pretty easy to get thunder eggs at ochoco called White Fir Springs, but they're not agate thunder eggs. Instead they've got jasper in the in vibrant reds and yellows. I got there in a hyundai elantra, though I did pop a tire on the way back. As far as the typical agate variety, it seems to becoming an extinct breed accessibility wise, soon the best places to dig them will just be during the Madras Powwow or way out east. Also, I hate navigating facebook trying to find their pricing, is it just the 2$ per LBS and minimum or were there any other digging fees?
DO IT! You will love it. I didn't have time to go to White Fir but I want to this summer. The pricing is $2 per pound with a 30lb minimum, and no other fees or anything. The two of us dug the 52lbs in just a few hours. You should look at there facebook page for the hours cause some days they are closed. Yeah they are getting harder to come by, Richersons is closed and soon Lucky Strike.
I thought the “duds” were beautiful!! The others too!
I guess they really aren't duds so much as they just don't have the color of the others. Thanks for stopping by!
there are a lot different spots that have thunder eggs in those mountains. Have been to any other spots out there?
I haven't but I plan on changing that this summer.
Nice of him. Why are they closing?
Looks like a amazing day.
They are closing cause the couple that runs it just had a baby and living at an off grid mining camp 30 miles from anything is proving to be too much.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding thanks for sharing this information, wishing them many blessings
Heading there for the open weekend and just wondering, what kind of payment options do they have or is it cash only?
I believe it will be only cash.
Thank you! The post didn't mention a minimum but I guess I will prepare for one anyway.
So sad it is closed 😢
That it is.
This is my first time watching you, what is a Thunder Egg?
A thunderegg is a nodule-like rock, similar to a filled geode, that is formed within rhyolitic volcanic ash layers.
Thanks for the info! I’ll be watching again!
I have 2 geode or thundereggs on my centerpiece on my dining room table. No way to cut it.
How big are they?
Are they closing because of Covid?
No, they just had a kid and its too much work to live up there off grid at this point.
Maybe I missed it but why are they closing?
They have a small child now and living on a mine hours from town without running water or power is hard.
Why wouldn’t you put it in the saw wet, don’t you use water??
What exactly are you talking about here?
@@CurrentlyRockhounding you said you didn’t want to put the thunder egg in the saw because it was wet. I was courteous because I haven’t heard of a rock saw that wasn’t wet.
@@isaiahwall3689 Oh I see what you're saying here. My big lapidary saw uses oil and not water so you don't want to put a wet (with water) rock in an oil based saw.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding oh that’s cool, I haven’t heard of a oil saw. Does it ever stain rock, I install a lot of natural stone and sucks up things like oil, it changes the appearance ( makes it look dark).
@@isaiahwall3689 It doesn't stain the rock, the oil used is a very high viscosity mineral oil.
What are some places in Oregon in 2024 that are still open to dig thunder eggs both free and pay to dig im interested in both but sounds like all the places closed after watching this video lmao
The best place and way for me to answer that for you is to direct you to my website, which lists many locations to visit in Oregon.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding I went over your website and I was honestly not expecting much but I was blown away how helpful your website was! Outstanding job my man!
@@jamesbarker2872 thanks you! It's been a big project getting it this far.