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A Group Meteorite Hunt in Franconia, Arizona
by Ruben Garcia

A thick trail of dust traced the path of my Jeep down the winding dirt road that led to the Franconia meteorite hunters’ camp. My son Benjamin and I couldn’t wait to meet the group of hunters that had already assembled, and had been hunting the area for at least a day or two. Ben was excited, as this was his first official meteorite hunt. At the ripe old age of nine, he was a late bloomer. My daughter Stephanie – at age eight – had accompanied me on my very first meteorite hunt to Gold Basin nearly ten years ago. Even Ben’s younger brother Nick had helped me find a meteorite in Holbrook last year.

Benjamin’s nervous excitement made me realize that I too was excited, but for a different reason. I hadn’t visited the Franconia strewn field since 2004, and couldn’t help but wonder how hunting the area might have changed. In those days Mike Miller and I quietly hunted the north side for months before most people had even heard of the Franconia meteorite. It was a time when finding up to three kilos of meteorites – irons, fragments, and individuals – daily wasn’t too rare. I’ve heard that nowadays meteorites are quite a bit harder to come by, and in fact have become rather scarce.

Franconia is not your typical strewn field; a fact that became evident to both Mike and I within just a day or two of hunting the area. Almost immediately we started finding iron fragments along side ordinary chondrites. When viewing these fragments under magnification, it seemed to us a foregone conclusion that they were meteorites – something that to this day is still being studied. It’s no secret that the Franconia area has produced many different types of meteorites, and is probably home to two or more overlapping strewn fields. The real question is this: How many more exciting discoveries are yet to be made?

This December morning was clear but the crisp, nippy, outside air let in by my open window chilled my face. As I peered out at the Franconia landscape I could see that it looked just as desolate as I remember – vast desert pavement as far as the eye could see, flanked by mountains on either side.

As we continued to drive, the glare of the morning sun made it difficult to see. But with my eyes squinted and visor down, I was able to make out a vehicle up ahead that was coming toward us. It was a light blue Jeep that slowed as it approached. The driver rolled down his window and motioned for us to stop. “Hi, I’m Stan,” he said. Then pointing at his passenger, he said, “That’s Del.” Recognizing Stan and Del as the two that organized the event, I replied, “Hi, I’m Ruben. Am I heading in the right direction?” “Yup,” Stan said. “Straight up that road everyone’s getting ready.” He continued,” Go ahead and join them, we’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later at around 8:05 am, Ben and I spotted their camp site. We were somewhat surprised to see that so many hunters had braved the frigid Arizona night and now were preparing –for the second or third day in a row – to scour the desert for celestial treasure. The friendly waves that we received as we pulled in made me realize that my black Jeep with quad in tow along with a license plate that read “Meteors” must have been a dead giveaway that we were meteorite hunters.

After a brief greeting with Mike Morgan and Paul Desilets – the only two meteorite hunters that I knew – I was introduced to many others, including John Wolfe and Jim Smaller. John is credited with finding the very first Franconia meteorite in late 2002 and Jim has become somewhat of a Franconia iron expert. He believes that many of the irons found in the area are indeed meteoritic and may have come from within a larger Franconia chondrite. Jim also brought with him the largest and most complete collection of Franconia irons that I’ve ever seen.

Over an hour had passed as we unpacked our gear and chatted, but by around 9:15 am we were ready. Benjamin and I followed the caravan of vehicles as they headed north toward I-40. We crossed over the freeway, and then one at a time raced through the large sandy wash to avoid getting stuck. Unfortunately, it’s a wash that my oldest son Ruben and I know all too well. However, that was before I had experience and a 4 x 4 on my side.

We followed the train tracks east for about a quarter mile, crossed, and then continued on. It was here that Ben and I parked the Jeep, unloaded the quad from the trailer, and sped along to catch up.

To my surprise the caravan stopped at a spot that I knew very well. Years prior Mike and I had hunted in the vicinity and found many kilos of meteorites – so I was feeling moderately confident. Knowing that we had wasted precious time chatting, I quickly balanced my detector and Ben and I were off.

It didn’t take long to get my first signal. Not surprisingly it turned out to be an all too common Franconia “hot rock.” The next few minutes were spent with me swinging and Benjamin digging. He desperately wanted to help dad find a meteorite. He didn’t have to wait long. Incredibly, only another ten minutes had passed when we made the first find of the day. The two-hundred and eight gram specimen was buried under four inches of dirt and was no more than one hundred feet from the quad. My Son was ecstatic! This was the first time that he had actually taken part in finding a meteorite. Considering how many times smaller groups of hunters had hit this area, the other meteorite hunters seemed legitimately surprised that a meteorite of that size was still there. After showing the meteorite to a few newbies so that they knew what to look for, Ben and I pressed on.

Over the next hour even more hunters joined in, swinging their detectors and feverishly trying to be the next person to strike galactic gold. I noticed that among them was a beginner named Jim Shorten, who unfortunately had brought an inferior metal detector. Ben and I decided to lend Jim my Whites GMT in hopes that he would find his very first space rock. After all, we came to document the event as much as hunt.

The truth is that this Franconia trip was unlike any in the past. First of all, my main mission wasn’t to find as many meteorites as possible. In fact, this outing would have been a complete success had I not found any at all. This hunting trip was one of retrospect, as I wanted to look back and see not only what had changed at Franconia, but also who had been changed by it.

Armed with digital video cameras, Ben and I began roaming around talking to hunters. Del Waterbury was the next hunter to find an elusive other-worldly Franconia specimen. His twenty-seven gram individual was still “insitu” as Ben and I strolled up. A short interview with Del revealed that although this was his first find of the day, he had found six meteorites the day before. Among them was an interesting little ½ iron and ½ chondrite specimen. This meteorite seems to lend proof to the theory that the irons being found may have indeed come from within a larger Franconia chondrite. After taking photos and video of Del as he proudly plucked his meteorite from the surrounding desert pavement, we were on our way.

Moments later I heard in the distance a faint call, “Ruben.” I turned to see my friends Mike and Paul gesturing for us to come over. Ben and I quickly walked over and asked, “Ok, who found one?” Mike answered, “It was Paul.”

Mike and Paul are very good meteorite hunters and I never had any doubt that they would find a few on this trip. Paul’s seventy-two gram find was nice, though it didn’t excite them much as they’ve both found much larger. Still, being ever competitive, Mike said, “Lets go, it’s my turn now.”

Jim Smaller is one of the most experienced Franconia hunters currently scouring the area. He is very knowledgeable in most things meteorite related, and spends a good deal of time helping new meteorite enthusiasts. Whether swinging his Minelab or Whites made detector, it’s a sure bet that he’ll find something from outer space.

As Ben and I wandered over to where Jim was hunting, we were just in time to see him find a nice twenty or thirty gram individual. After chatting with him, it was obvious that he had a firm grasp on the strewn field. I was surprised to learn that he even knew the coordinates to at least one of my best Franconia finds when he said, “Your seven pound meteorite came from just over that hill.” Jim is quite the Franconia guru if ever there was one.

After lunch Mike evened the score with Paul when he found a very nicely regmaglyphed specimen. “Finally!” He exclaimed, “I’ve been digging nothing more than thirty and fifty caliber bullets all morning long.”

It was about 1:30 pm when I noticed that Stan and Del seemed to be bent over studying something – a sure sign that one of them had found a meteorite. I started my quad and rode cross country over to where they were. When I was within shouting distance I called out, “Who found it?” “Stan the Man,” Del replied. “Great, Stan, at least you didn’t get skunked!” I said. Stan seemed very relieved and vowed that his next find would be much larger. “I don’t find too many,” he said, “but they are usually pretty big.”

There’s one meteorite hunter that has the monopoly on big meteorites at Franconia. His name is Denny Asher. Denny became a meteorite hunter quite by accident as his house, and in fact entire neighborhood, is right in the middle of the Franconia strewn field. Several years ago while returning home from running errands Denny saw a few people around his home with metal detectors – obviously searching for something. He became immediately interested when upon quizzing them, he found out that they were looking for meteorites.

That was three years ago and since then Denny has found some giant space rocks. However, Denny believes that only one – the beautifully oriented twenty-eight pound specimen – is related to the Franconia strewn field. He claims that the other two – a sixty-five pound meteorite that shattered upon impact and seventy-five pound individual – are not related. “They were both found too far outside the known strewn field, plus they look much different,” Denny says. Either way, Denny has found two of the largest chondrites ever in Arizona and has thereby insured his place among the ranks of some of the most successful American meteorite hunters.

At about four O’clock Benjamin and I started heading back towards camp, as we had already taken hundreds of pictures and several hours of video. Along the way we ran into Billy and Tiffany Wetzel. Billy had hunted Franconia before so we weren’t surprised when he quickly displayed two modest finds that he had just made. However, we were shocked to discover that even though this was Tiffany’s first time out, she had found a meteorite and stood alone as the only newbie to do so. We congratulated her, snapped a few photos, and then continued on.

Ben and I pulled into camp and were soon joined by eight or nine others that had found their fair share of meteorites. We talked about our day and compared finds. My two-hundred and eight gram specimen was the largest for the day, and Ben couldn’t have been more proud as he held it during our group photos. Later as we sat by the camp fire and chatted, more and more hunters came in from the field.

By nightfall I had counted twenty five meteorite hunters that participated in one way or another with this extraordinary event. The level of expertise ran the gamut from professionals like Robert Ward, to locals like John Wolfe, to brand new meteorite hunters like Tiffany Wetzel.

While watching everyone through the soft orange glow of the camp fire, a thought struck me. So much had changed since the early days. The most obvious change was that meteorites were scarce, and meteorite hunters were not. Like Gold Basin, the Franconia strewn field had inspired so many. Most of the meteorite hunters present vowed to return and hone their skills, and I couldn’t help but wonder which of these would be the next to discover a new strewn