Customer Reviews

The GPS Guide to Western Gem Trails

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I'm not sure about the rest of the book, but I checked out about
a dozen of the sites listed in arizona and it was a complete flop.
I am well versed on the use of gps and when I ended up at the locations listed, the rocks just were not there.
Very frustrating after driving for many miles on jeep only roads to find nothing.

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE 2002 edition. I ain't gonna spend a penny on the revised 2007 edition. The description of the revised edition doesn't say that there is anything new in the book, which wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Disclaimer: I am biased, I have reasons for not liking this book, namely, quite a few waypoints were stolen from my waypoints and maps for many of them (not to mention those of other books, web sites, etc.), which I provide for a fee (it isn't hard to find me online lol). That said, I try to be as unbiased (and brutally honest) as I possibly can when I review any book.

This book, as described above, is an attempt to provide a GPS coordinate for each and every site in the Gem trails series in the western US. What it really is, is a lame list of GPS waypoints for the Gem Trails series sites PLUS a number of other sites from various sources (a whole slew of which, including mine, are never referenced nor given any credit for). In other words, they were stolen, which constitutes copyright infringement, plain & simple).

Where do I start? Here's the short list:

<rant ON>

1. How the heck do you get the coordinates for any of the sites into your GPS without spending hours entering them by hand. YOU DON"T! There is no way to take the coordinates from this or any other printed list of waypoints and enter them automatically, e.g., uploading them from a computer file (which practically every GPS available on the market today does, with the proper cable and software). A link to a text or spreadsheet with the waypoints in some standard format would be one way to do it, or at the very least a 20 cent CD accompanying the book.

2. The author apparently visited a VERY SMALL minority of these sites personally. How do I know that? Because I have visited, read articles about, seen material from, heard about from rockhounds who have been there, and seen TV shows about (ie. the sensationalist but not half bad show "Where to Find Cash & Treasures on the cable Travel Channel).

3. There is NOTHING at many of these waypoints to collect! As another reviewer pointed out, many sites in AZ had NOTHING worth picking up. Many of the sites in OR, WA, and ID that I have been to that are in this book have NOTHING to collect. One of the reasons this is the case is 4. below. Another is that the author NEVER VISITED most of them. He apparently didn't ASK ANYONE about what material is at many of them (thus no materials are listed). He sure didn't bother to CONFIRM that they are accessible, whether they are or were under claim, etc. etc. Come on, this is your basic "no duh" research that is involved in publishing ANY GUIDE to ANYTHING.

4. Many of the waypoints are FLAT OUT WRONG. Most were GUESSED AT from the Gem Trails books, various maps, or, apparently, the alignment of the moon & planets at the time the book was written! Many are obviously typos, but how could you know that without an in-depth knowledge of coordinate systems?

5. The rudimentary, maps for each state are of little use. As far as pointers to maps that are actually useful in finding these sites, there are a few standard map series referenced, e.g. DeLorme maps (which by the way are apparently the guides available when the copy was written, and since the page numbers change with each revision, they are quickly outdated), and the Gem Trails books.

6. There is almost NO INFORMATION about what material is available an the vast majority of the sites, as pointed out by the reviewer from WA. Is it agate, jasper, opal, chalcedony, crystals, fossils, garden rock, leaverite (apparently, the default, as in, nothing). What is a "specimen"? A "nodule"? What is available to collect an any of the former and working mines? Tailings? Ore? Minerals (which, in reality, is what is available at most of them)? Why would you want to take the trouble to drive or hike to a site when you have NO IDEA of what you are supposed to be looking for?

7. Some of the Jurisditcions (i.e., BLM, Forest Service, state, private, etc.) are WRONG. The Jurisdiction, if it's wrong, or is listed as PRIVATE can get you in trouble (or arrested, or shot lol). Many of the "private" sites are so outdated it's ludicrous (some that are listed in OR, WA & ID haven't allowed collecting in more than 20 years)!

<rant OFF>

A few things that are useful about this book:

1. You can look up the names of the sites on the net, or in the Gem Trails books, or other books and software, magazines, etc., to find out how to get there, collecting info, current status, accessibility, and what the heck is there to collect. So it becomes a list of names and coordinates, some of which are correct, others of which are useless.

2. You can see, in general, the number of sites you might find something at in each state. The descriptions do point out where fossils, some sort of rock or mineral, or mines are at most of the sites. You would then need to read another book (many books) to find out what these really are.

3. The township/range/section, topo map name, and jurisdiction information is useful if you know how to read maps, or how to contact the land manager. Similarly, the Resources, Government Agencies, and Rock Clubs sections are useful to point you to further information on most of the sites.

4. You can enter many of the waypoints in your GPS (by hand) and get close to, or close enough to at any rate, to find something worth the drive.

OK, too much said. I will now crawl back under my bridge :)

Lots of points but very few points tell you what you will find there. It would be nice to see what minerals/stones/fossils are available at the gathering sites.

I can only speak to the California portion of this book, but it does NOT follow the capably written SoCal Gem Trails book. The entries are listed alphabetically and do not corespond with the other book. You would be better served by doing a little online research for the sites. BTW the bookseller did give excellant service.