Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Maggio
Gosh... this could be an interesting thread. There's much to say about soils in general.
Now, I understand that some of us are after that "natural" look, and as a rock connoisseur myself, I know that the supply places don't always present the finest materials nature can offer.
As hinted, roadcuts are particular favorite of mine - except for that one near the U.S./Mexico border where the Sheriff thought I was pulled over to pick-up illegal aliens. No officer, just decomposed granite... you understand right?  I justify these spots because the falling rocks are a hazard to vehicle traffic anyway. Matt |
Matt - You lucked out. I was collecting fallen sandstone from along Highway 129 near Watsonville, California and the California Highway Patrol stopped and decided to check out what I was doing. I simply told him that I was collecting the scree that was falling off of the cliffs, had safety cones set out well before my truck and located in a large turnout area. He informed me that the rocks were State property and that I could be arrested for stealing state property. I was amazed. I had a Ford F-250 long bed nearly full of fallen rocks. I asked him if I needed to unload the rocks to avoid getting cited. He told me that he was still going to write me a ticket and cited some obscure code stating that its is illegal to pull out along a highway but would not arrest me for theft. During this order, a CalTrans vehicle passed by. Minutes later, the CalTrans truck pulled up along side us and asked if there was a problem. The officer informed him I was stealing the rocks and was being cited. The CalTrans guy started laughing and told the officer that I was saving the State money since they have to dump all the materials collected from this stretch of the highway due to some asbestos issues with the rock and in his opinion, I could have all I wanted. The CHP officer let me go. I got the number of the CalTrans guy and two weeks later, arrived on the opposite side of the road, truck and shovel in hand and the CalTrans crew had just finished scraping the road edge and had piles waiting for the picking. When I started to shovel, the other CalTrans guys pulled up with their skip loader and asked how much I wanted. A few minutes later I was on my way with a full truck load of crumbling sandstone and a smile (and no sore back).
So the warning is to the fellow rock hounds that the State roads are regulated and indeed it is illegal to remove the rocks from the roadcuts. I found out the hard way.
Cheers.