[Rockhounds] New Mexico / Colorado trip suggestions?

[Ted Kowalski]

Tom:
Again, Welcome back! Oh noble originator of this list! As you can see you
really started something back in the 90s.

In Holbrook, drive around to the town of Woodruff. Drive the local roads and
wherever safely possible, stop and walk along the road. It is unpaved and
any recent grading exposes petrified wood. A lot of this wood is almost as
beautiful as that found in the Petrified Forest. Be nice to the local folks,
A pickup truck stopped and the driver asked what we were doing. He laughed
and invited us to come clean up the rocks in his driveway, promising that
they were far nicer than what we were collecting.

In Leadville, stop and visit the local BLM and Forest Service offices.
Identify the BLM and Forest Service lands you get access to and go hit the
local roads. We tried to do a Spruce Grove visit a week ago. Unfortunately,
the family had decided we were going home and our visit was the walk around
stretch your legs variety. We did talk to the Spruce Grove camp host and got
some info from him. He said the Topaz/Amazonite producing areas were about
two miles up the trail. Watch for claim markers and avoid the claims. The
locals told me there are not as many claims as the rumor mill says. If in
doubt spend some time at BLM checking out the area you are heading for.

Um, Leadville, CO is a looong way from the other sites. Are you heading
there along any particular road? We had a great time last week collecting
outside the Capital Reef and Arches NP. Pick any country road and drive
slowly. Get out occasionally and check rocks. There were few places where
someone had not preceded us and broke rocks, so I really didn't need to
carry my rock hammer.

Ted Kowalski
Fredericksburg VA USA


-----Original Message-----
From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
[mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of Tom Corson
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 11:08 PM
To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
Subject: [Rockhounds] New Mexico / Colorado trip suggestions?

Hi all,

I'm thinking of going up to Leadville, CO for the upcoming FM mineral
symposium in a few weeks.

My route will be basically:

Tucson - Show Low - Holbrook - Gallup - Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Alamosa -
Leadville.

Any suggestions on collecting spots along the way would be most appreciated.

Also, I've always wanted to collect Colorado Amazonite. Are there any sites
which are still accessible and worthwhile (not under active claim or in
someone's back yard)?

Thanks in advance....

Regards,
Tom Corson


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