[Rockhounds] Fwd: 2007 KY Fluorite Fieldtrip Reports - Part 3 (was: Got Fluorite?)

[Nathan Martin]

 Here is the third installment of my 2007 KY fluorite fieldtrip log.

---------------10/11/07--------------
Monday morning dawned over Marion, KY with the forecast of an even hotter
day (92 deg!).  Fortunately we were going back to the Eureka mine.  On a hot
day collecting along the shady banks of Hurricane Creek is much better than
working a rock pile in full sun.  Our numbers were down from a high of 15
people on Sunday to 11 as several people had to head back early to take care
of their "day jobs".  One group had vowed to clean out "the pit" in an
attempt to find some really big crystals still in place in the fluorite
veins.  This group consisted of Ed Norton, Steve Towne, Bob Lancaster, John
Campbell, Brett Howard, June Epps, and Nate Martin.  We had two people
(Steve Towne & John Campbell) down in the water & mud filling buckets, two
others (Bret Howard & Ed Norton) shoveling dirt and mud, two people emptying
buckets (Bob Lancaster & Nate Martin) and one person cleaning specimens
(June Epps).  The primary prerequisites for membership in this elite crew
was a total disregard for the future uses of the shoes and clothing being
worn and unbounded optimism in the face of a challenging task.

In addition to the "pit crew" there were others who chose to poke around the
general mine area looking for specimens shallowly buried in the dirt,
especially around the numerous small pits that dated from the era of the
Great Depression.  According to Bill Frazer, during the depression people
who had no work would try to make a little money by hand digging a shaft 15
or 20 feet down to get to the fluorite veins.  They had nothing but time and
it was cheaper to dig a shallow shaft rather than putting in a drift that
would require wood to shore up the tunnel.  They would put their hard-won
ore on a cart and take it to the mill to earn a meager wage.  It was hard
work but did put some food on the table in a difficult time.

The legacy of their efforts is a series of small caved-in pits in a line
that follows the Eureka fault and Peter Christofono and Linda Frahm had had
good luck last year turning over rocks around some of these pits and finding
good crystals on the bottom side.  Well they did it again this year!  While
the "pit crew" was slaving away in the mud and muck, Peter and Linda were
off finding killer specimens by brushing away leaves and turning over
rocks.  Around lunch time the pit crew began to get a glimpse of what they
had found and crew members began to drift off to join the "pokers'.  Finally
those of us who remained took a vote and decided to abandon our efforts in
the pit.  We had found some good specimens but the gain was not at all equal
to the effort required.

The rest of the day was spent digging around the prospect pits and most
people had at least some success finding crystals on matrix.  Some of these
crystals are the same dark purple as those found in the Eureka pit down by
the creek.  Others, however, are a more attractive light lavender color.
Linda and Peter found the best material on Monday but good finds were made
by nearly everyone.  Even in the shade the heat took its toll, and as the
afternoon wore on people began to leave the site, some to head for home and
others to rest a bit and clean up for dinner.  The pit crew divided up the
finds from their morning in the mud and I used my diamond cut-off saw to
trim some of the specimens down to a more manageable size (I had hoped there
would a reason for me to drag that beast 1200 miles to KY).

The Country Club was closed on Monday, so 7 of us headed out to the Front
Porch Restaurant for supper.  Their specialty is catfish.  You can get it
fried, grilled or blackened and it comes with hush puppies, cornbread, white
beans, pepper relish, scallions, cole slaw and choice of potato, all for
less than $10.  The restaurant is anything but elegant and the food is not
fancy, but it is good country cooking and the price is certainly right.
Thus ended our third day of fluorite collecting and my journal entry for
tonight.

best regards,
Nate Martin


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