Holbrook 2006

By 'The Holbrook Five'

February 9, 2006

The Group

Mark Bowling (#6645), Dave Andrews, Mike Jensen (#4264), Maria Haas (#5520), Bill Jensen (#2359)

"The Holbrook Five" *

The Place - Holbrook Stewnfield (Year of Fall 1912) - Holbrook Arizona

Maria writes, "Anticipation was high as we all entered the strewnfield... We did not use metal detectors. [Just magnets - see photo above] The strewnfield is, well, somewhat strewn with railroad-related debris, lots-o-slag and people droppings (trash) close to the tracks. There are a lot of meteorite-resembling things to overlook there. Plus, I don't know the specifics about the ground mineralization there but I understand that detectors can't tune it out very easily (or at all)."

A meteorite hunter familiar with the area, John Gwilliam agrees, "There is a lot of trash left over from not only the railroad, but from over a century of ranching and the presence of humans. The soil is highly mineralized and anyone using a metal detector will go crazy trying to keep their machine ground balanced. Also, the Holbrook stone meteorite has very little iron (L/LL6) and is almost impossible to detect with a metal detector. Several friends and I have done some informal tests out in the strewn field with meteorites in the ~10 gram class and metal detectors. Even with the meteorite sitting right on the surface, the White's detectors we were using gave only a barely audible beep when the coil was literally scraped right on the meteorite. My conclusion was that a 25-50 gram stone buried even a few inches in soil probably wouldn't give up a signal that would register with most detectors. Hunting by sight is still the preferred and most productive method in Holbrook."

Dave Andrews cautions, "One thing I think we both forgot to mention, was the bumper crop of thorny tumbleweeds that took over the field. I sure don't remember all of those from past hunts. Wear your boots!"

The Search

Bill Jensen begins, "The morning started out a little cold and slow. Of the five of us on this Holbrook hunt, only Maria had NEVER found a meteorite. In fact, all of us but Maria had found a meteorite at Holbrook before. But after about an hour I heard a "woohoo" and hoped that it had come from Maria. It in fact had come from her as she found her first ever meteorite. It was a 3 - 5 gram (we didn't weigh any of them so this is just a guesstimate, and my guesstimate could and most likely are off) fusion crusted individual. This is actually quite large for the meteorites that are typically found in the Holbrook strewnfield, and this would prove to be a good omen for 2 of the other hunters in the group."

Bill relates, "So after much celebration by Maria and congratulations from the rest of us on her first ever meteorite find, we got back to business. Shortly after Maria's first ever find, Mike and Mark found 5+ and 3+ gram individuals respectively."

"They were both the largest they had ever found at Holbrook, until a few hours later atleast. After an hour or two with no finds, Dave found his single find of the day of about 1 gram, actually two pieces of a broken individual found a few inches apart. Simultaneously, while this was radioed to all of the rest of us, Mark was heading to take a look at Dave's piece and radioed back and said I think I found one or two. This ended up being two pieces of the same meteorite found about 1 foot apart. The smaller piece was about a gram and the larger one was in the 3+ gram range." (Dave Andrews notes, "Mark's finds expanded the strewnfield as far as I know. I've never heard or seen anyone find one that far from the railroad tracks. Perhaps there are more of them? The reason I suggested hunting in the place we did is because not that many people hunt in that area. All the others have been pounded heavily over the years.")

"After we all had a look at Mark's finds we looked around the immediate area to no avail. We all started to wander away from the general area with Mike and Maria about 15 or 20 feet apart and the rest of us in all different directions. It was just then that I heard a much louder "WOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" There was no mistaking that this was Maria with her second find of the day. But this was no ordinary find. As Dave said, she found about 75 grams [puzzle stone's total weight was 74.7grams] of what was a very nice meteorite before probably a cow stepped on it. Mark, Mike and myself helped Maria recover fragments by scraping the sand and dragging our magnets through it. I would guess that I pulled out about 10 fragments with the largest one being larger that my own largest Holbrook find. Of course all fragments went to Maria who was the finder of the two initial large 20+ gram (each) pieces. This was the find of the day, and it was done by a person who had never found a meteorite prior to that day. Congratulations, Maria, it was a great find by a very deserving person", writes Bill.

Mike adds, " After helping Maria locate additional fragments of her large puzzle we continued our hunt. Less then five minutes later I found my 14.4 gram piece. It was by far the largest piece I have ever found at Holbrook. The piece was mostly buried with only a broken face pointed up. When I first saw it I thought it was a piece of concrete or a bleached cow turd. Fortunately I put my magnet on the stone and it stuck to it. I have found several much smaller Holbrooks and didn't need a magnet but the only way I could have found this one was with a magnet."

"14.4 gram piece. It was by far the largest piece I have ever found at Holbrook."

Bill concludes, " This was the last find of the day by the group... As Dave said, 'the Maria has found a meteorite celebration' continued at the El Rancho with good Mexican food for all and margaritas for some of us. After dinner, Maria and Mark headed back towards Tucson, after some more congratulations by Dave, Mike and myself of course. Then as Dave said, the three of us headed to the Empty Pockets for some more celebration. Thanks to the lovely and very friendly bartender, Dave, Mike and I accomplished a little BSing and reminiscing over a few cold beers. There is no place better for a little thirst quenching after a long day looking for meteorites at Holbrook than the official saloon of the Holbrook strewnfield...The Empty Pockets."

"All in all it was a very successful day at Holbrook, with 6 large Holbrooks found, all of us found at least one, and Maria finding both her first and the biggest meteorites of the day. So please everyone that reads this, please congratulate Maria on her very successful hunt at Holbrook. It is very deserved and couldn't have happened to a nicer person."

"Congratulations Maria on your wonderful finds and thanks for joining us as you made the hunt much more enjoyable."

"A perfect ending to a perfect day." - Maria

(Click on photo to enlarge)

For more info and photos, visit The MeteoriteImpact Forum, Dave's Holbrook Meteorite Strewnfield Page and Dave's Space Junk.

* (top photo - persons with golf clubs) Warning: Do NOT play golf with these people. They will wander off the course 'to briefly search for balls' only to return hours later with little black rocks.