[Rockhounds] Favorite Collecting Trips of 2008

[Kris Rowe]

Howdy, Nathan!
                          Thanks for the great field trip reports, and
especially for the GREAT web pages on the Snowbird Mine! I'm still trying to
pry my jaw off the floor after seeing the sheer size of that sceptered
quartz crystal!
I'd love to see some pics of the parisite crystals you mined, and especially
the calcites from the Eureka.

Being stuck in the Central Valley of California for 360 days last year, I
only got in 3 days collecting, due to one of my periodic "total life
remakes." Thankfully, 2009 looks like it will be a much better year for
collecting.

My first collecting day was to the Panoche Hills, west of New Idria and the
Clear Creek BLM Management area. I've collected several sites in this area
for over 20 years and find a plethora of cuttable materials here, including
agates (plasma, banded, nodular "root beer" and many other types); agatized
palm, reed and wood; jaspers of many colors and patterns; nephrite AND
jadeite jades; howleite; ironstone; opal and opalites; serpentines; opalized
shells; "reef" fossils; basalt cobbles;  and the frequent "what the HECK is
that?"

One of my favorites from the area is 'satin spar', fibrous cutting grade
seam gypsum. It's the perfect material for teaching hand cutting. Unlike
many tutors of the lapidary arts, I prefer to start students on soft stones,
with wet/dry sandpaper. This encourages them to "feel" the stone, rather
than catering to the modern "need for speed." The speed that they experience
when I allow them to saw their piece of 'spar' in preparation for sanding by
hand gives them a realization of its 'butter' softness. Rather than ending
up with a stone that demonstrates how much of a beginner they are and
discouraging them, I try to make sure they learn that most basic lapidary
skill: Patience! This results in a stone that looks like a "bragger,"
without costing them a fortune.

But, I digress (as I usually do!) Back to collecting. With the closure of
the Clear Creek area due to "asbestos  danger" ("Oh dear, oh my!") my
collecting will NOT include benetoite, fresnoite, or neptunite. Nor willl I
be able prospect for the lovely jadeite and nephrite found for the last
century in this area. Personally, I resent being treated like a child who
cannot take sufficient precautions against a "suspected carcinogen." It
seems that we should only be exposed to carcinogens when it's taxable, like
filling our gas tanks.

O.K., enough soapbox ... (putting it away ...)

On to Trona!

Without a doubt, one of my top 5 "most enjoyable" collecting experiences was
this years Searles Valley Mineral Society
Gem-O-Rama<http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/tronagemclub.html>!
Nestled in the arid wilderness, Trona is a dusty, sulfurous oasis between
the bustling (yawn!) Metropolis of
Ridgecrest<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgecrest,_California>(pop.
25,000) and Death Valley.
The home of the Searles Valley Mineral Corp, Trona produces many different
evaporate minerals in world class quantities.
For the mineral collector who craves evaporates, Trona is THE place! Most,
specifically, it's THE place one weekend out of the year!

For over sixty-five years, rockhounds have come to Trona the second weekend
of October to brave the smelly mud, flying crystals and stinking brine that
are the trademarks of this great collecting event. 2008 was a great example
of just how great collecting can be on Searles Lake.

We (my partner Laura and myself) arrived late in the evening of October 11
at Motel 6 in Ridgecrest. We're both of the belief that, even when in a
motel, "roughing it" is an essential part of any collecting trip! So, in the
interest of economy, we settled for a queen bed, and cable TV.

Eye rubbingly early the next morning, we lit out for Trona, and hopefully,
something to eat. Note to all: Get up early, if you expect to eat before the
first field trip.

Arriving in Trona after a 30 minute drive, we found and stood in the
appropriate lines. Welllllll ...  I stood in line, while my paramour went
"in search of" comfort facilities. Let me state right here, the Searles
Valley folks do a bang up job, and put on one of the best "small town" shows
I've seen. They also have what is the most impressive "clubhouse" I've ever
seen! Still, the word for the smart collector is to get there eartly. There
are great dealers, great club members who actually KNOW where things are,
and to warn those with sensitive noses, an ever present sulfurous stink!
Only when a stiff wind blows does the "rotton egg" odor abate.

After standing in line to buy donuts, only to find the last were sold to the
folks ahead of me, we were able to get a banana! (Blessings to the lovely
club member who gave us her banana! Get there EARLY!) That, Pepsi and
cornchips were our breakfast, while we waited for the "Mudpile" field trip
to begin.

One of the great pleasures of collecting at Trona is the brief drive from
the show grounds. The "dry" lake bed is IN town ... or is it the other way
around? Anywho, the organisation of the field trip is flawless, and within 5
minutes we arrived at the most impressive pile of stinking, sticky muck I've
ever had the pleasure of getting my shoes stuck in. Found within these
mudpiles are rare hanksite crystals, trona crystals, borates and other
evaporates. Also to be found were throngs of people who were VERY serious
about getting the best and biggest hanksites!

Runnning around, getting stuck like ants in honey, were throngs of children
of all ages, some of whom were making their first ever trip away from inner
city L.A. The looks on the faces of those kids made me feel as young as they
were, as they pulled out and washed off hanksites the size of soda cans and
larger!

There were troughs of lake brine for washing these crystals, which easily
and quickly melt in any less than a saturate saline soloution. These quickly
became elbow to elbow affairs, and I generally had at least one small child
under each arm washing away as I smiled down on them. I seemed to be the
least serious (or the most amused) collector there, and recieved many
scornful looks as I chuckled and cracked jokes with harried parents. Of
course, these scornfull looks came from small children, who knew I couldn't
possibly appreciate the gravity of the situation!

And, being friendly and marginally knowledgible, I soon had children
approaching with the ever present question: "What's THIS one worth?"

Being my first time for hanksite collecting, I made many "educated" guesses,
hoping I wasn't too far wrong!
No matter what my opinion was, the young digger would run off in search of
"the BIG One!" Many of the smallest kids found crystals that dwarfed mine!

Having filled the plastic file boxes we brought for hanksite (keep your
hanksite moist, but not wet, until you can clean it completely) we left with
the "last call." The drive back was short, and the food and hospitality at
the Clubhouse were great! After a sandwich and soda, we joined the bull
session in the field trip parking lot, and waited for the call to mount up!

As always, the bull session was one of the best parts of collecting, and we
made new friends from far places.
John hailed from Minnesota, and entertained me with tales of gold propecting
in Alaska and sapphires in Montana. A noisome throng appoached, students
from the University of Arizona at Prescott. We traded collecting tales, and
I showed them my "pet" Shaver Lake amethyst, which always goes propecting
with me.

The afternoon trip was the fabled "Blowhole" trip, of which details can be
found at the linked "SLG&MS" site. It was truly impresive to watch the video
at the clubhouse & see the explosives in use by the Navy Ordnance officers,
and the crystals being pumped out of the ground. As luck would have it, the
pumping that we'd seen as we passed the site that morning was the only we'd
be seeing.
As the drilling rig was working the last hole, the salt crust below gave
way, and the whole rig tipped on its side! However, we, the eager
collectors, were barely affected. Aside from looking wistfully toward the
now "off limits" hole with drill rig waiting for a tow truck, we gave our
attention to sorting through the tons of freshly pumped crystals.
Again, as in the morning, the children were happy to have someone who'd give
them an identity for their discoveries, and what discoveries they were! My
own crystals paled before their glories, and I wished that I were 9 years
old again.

I made friends with a 9 year old named Mathew, and his somewhat frayed
father, who was quite busy trying to herd 4 kids and still gather a few
crystals for himself. Matthew had the sort of luck I can only wish for,
showing up with handful after handful of rare top notch hanksite. The
toppers were a fist (that is, MY fist!) sized, museum clean "root beer"
brown hanksite and a very rare, 1/2" sulfo-halite.
Now, my eyes nearly left my skull when I saw that hanksite, since the usual
hanksite is green to amber colored, and clear. This one derived its color
from the dreamy, creamy "cumulous cloud" clay inclusions that floated below
its surface. When he asked the inevitible "How much?" I overcame temptation,
and looked into his eyes. "Matthew," I slowly said, "I can't tell you." His
small brow furrowed as I continued,"That crystal is so fine, if I were you,
I'd never sell it." His Dad smiled and appreciated the moment. I'm sure that
I'll see them again next year. Dad said I would!

We quickly met up with several new friends whom we'd met at lunch, Nancy &
Kim, from Illinois. Kim is a GIA Graduate Gemologist, who'd decided to come
with her Mom to see what field collecting was all about! They asked sweetly
if I'd help them to identify thier finds, and as always (especially for
pretty ladies!) I said "Sure!" My darling Laura had invited them to sit with
us, and found us 2 new friends!
I was in my own glory, surrounded by young and old collectors, and gave the
lions share of my attention to the collectors. Kim told us how she'd been a
"nail artist" with a special love for gems, and had recieved her G.G. quite
recently. When I said I'd love to do the same, she urged me on. "It's easier
than you think!"
We'll see!

I did come away with my own "special" crystal. When they were leaving,
Matthew and his Dad came over, and after Dad thanked me for my help, Matthew
held out his hand, and gave me a perfect 1/2" twinned hanksite! That crystal
now resides in my Favorites cabinet, smelling faintly of sulfur.

After that we packed up, redolent of hydrogen sulfide and feeling salt
chapped, with a constant breeze blowing our hair in our faces. While I was
packing away our new treasures, Laura, Kim & Nancy wandered over to the edge
of the collecting area, and out onto the adjoining salt. After getting the
ok to dig in, they pried loose the foamy grey surface salt, and found
enchanting "fairy towers" of dew deposited, snowy white salt "frost!" Now,
these pieces aren't small or cabinet sized, they're HUGE! We have five,
nestled carefully among dessicant packs in our garage, awaiting my
attention. They'll soon make lovely additions to someones *very* dry living
room! We had quite a time finding tubs to transport the still wet, fragile
specimens 250 miles home.

After returning to the motel and cleaning off the accumulated muck, we had a
delicious dinner at one of Ridgecrest's fine Chinese buffets, then returned
to watch "Stay Alive!" on cable.

Bright and early the next morning, we slept through the alarm! So, instead
of a liesurely breakfast, we hurried and made it to Trona in time for the
"Brine Pond" collecting trip.
This was the one we'd made the trip for! The world famous "Searles Lake
Pink" halite would soon fill our hands, stinging them where blisters had
developed in our search for "the Best."
We met up with John at the Lake, and headed out eagerly onto the icy white
halite surface crust. The only way to learn where the best halite (a truly
subjective task!) lies is to break through that crust, a task which raised
the aforementioned blisters.
After finding a delightful array of crystal forms, and very little of the
"Prime" Pink halite, we heard a shout, and saw Kim waving for our attention!
She'd gotten some help from experienced hands, and had found a deep port
wine colored brine pond, with several "shelves" of halite crystals. These
varied in form, but all were a lovely pale to cranberry pink!

The time passed too quickly, and our totes filled too fast! I quickly became
used to the sting of the brine, and took over from Kim in clearing out the
pond. As we'd been told, the halite grew in shelves, and the sharp crystals
could definitely cut! Thankfully, the brine tanned my blisters a deep red
and kept ANY infection away!
John wanderd off, but Laura kept her focus, looking far and wide for great
specimens that would  become the delight of friends and customers alike.
Meanwhile, Kim & Nancy had consulted with me on transport problems,
wondering how they'd possibly get they're unexpectedly rich haul of crystals
home safely. As it turns out, we later heard, they ended up adding an extra
day to the trip to ship thier bounty home!

Leaving the Lake was truly difficult, especially since we felt like we'd
just found out what to look for. Kim & Nancy gave us hugs, and said fond
goodbyes. Isn't it amazing how fast collecting friends become? Reluctantly,
we carefully packed up for home, and started back across the salt.

With a little foresight, I'd left some room in the totes, and had left a
tote at the car. On our way back, we collected from abandoned holes, and had
great luck. We filled every possible corner, and carefully packed for the
trip home to Fresno.

After slaking our thirst with Pepsi at the gas station conveniently located
across from the Lake entrance, we wandered back to the show, where we joined
many folks who'd come out for the dealers, and grinned at others who looked
as salted and dusty as we. After a filing lunch of Polish Sausage & Frito
Boats (the 6th & 7th food groups!) and missing our new friends already, we
wandered amongst the now packing dealers, making connections and some shrewd
deals, reluctant to call it a weekend.

A tired but uneventful trip back found us planning to return in 2009, and
discussing who we'd like to bring with us!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks again to all of the great folks we met, and all the great folks who
will read this, and know just how we feel.

Be Well, y'all!
                        Kris
                        Lapidary Specialties
                        Fresno, California, U.S.A.



On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 12:14 PM, Nathan Martin <rocknate at gmail.com> wrote:

> Happy last Day of 2008!
> The snow is falling here in Massachusetts again so its a good time to think
> back to the collecting that I was able to do this past year.  I was
> fortunate enough to collect in CA, MT, KY, IN, OH, CT, NH, ME and MA this
> year.  Two trips really stand out as being extra special.
>
> A)  The first was a trip last July to the Snowbird Mine near the
> Montana/Idaho border that I made with Lanny Ream while I was out in Idaho
> on
> business.  Although the Snowbird Mine was mined for fluorite it is arguably
> the best locality in the US to collect decent sized crystals of
> parisite-(Ce).  It also happens to offer some of the most spectacular views
> of any locality I have visited.  The trip was made more interesting by the
> fact that we had to shovel snow and clear some small trees off the forest
> service road leading to the mine to get as close as possible to the mine
> road.  It was 12 July and we were clearly the first ones to drive in.  I
> enjoyed the trip so much that I went back again in August on my next trip
> out there.  I now just may have the best self-collected parisite-(Ce)
> crystals of anyone in New England although Lanny and others more local to
> the site certainly have better ones than those I found.  I have a
> powerpoint
> presentation of pictures that I took up on my club's website for anyone who
> is interested in seeing what the geology and scenery is like up there.  The
> URL is
> http://www.bostonmineralclub.org/docs/2008-snowbird/page-01.htm
>
> B) The second trip was the Boston Mineral Club fieldtrip that I led to the
> Eureka Mine in Marion, KY last October.  This was without a doubt the most
> successful collecting trip of the 5 times that I have been to Marion, KY
> and
> may well rank as the most successful BMC collecting trip ever.  We devoted
> four days of collecting to a fresh exposure of ledge that we paid to have
> dug by a track hoe that Bill Frazer brought in for us.  We also used
> a gasoline-powered generator & electric pump to keep the water out of our
> pit which was 6 feet below the level of Hurricane Creek just 3 feet away
> and
> used a 14" diamond blade saw to help work some of the pockets.  It was wet
> dirty work but the 15 people that attended this trip all went home very
> satisfied with the results.
>
> On Monday, 13 October, we had our greatest surprise.  I had run a saw cut
> along the top of some hard ledge so that we could work our way down to some
> of the exposed fluorite pockets below.  Ed Norton began working the cut and
> broke off a large chunk of of ledge that exposed what we now call the
> "Lucky
> 13" pocket.  The first indication that this was no ordinary pocket was the
> ~5" sharp, lustrous, doubly-terminated calcite floater that lay loose in
> the
> pocket (think Elmwood quality).  Still attached to the wall was the entire
> back of the pocket containing four other large calcite crystals.  I
> carefully ran multiple saw cuts around each edge of the pocket and Ed began
> even more carefully working the perimeter cuts to try to extract the pocket
> intact.  After a lot of hard work he extracted a roughly 12" x 15" slab
> with
> 4 intact calcite crystals.  Both Bill Frazer and a local geologist
> indicated
> that these are the finest calcite crystals ever collected from Crittenton
> County.  Bret Hume of Pittsburgh took home the calcite floater but Ed
> Norton
> got the pocket in our split of the specimens and he won first place for
> best
> fieldtrip specimen at the annual BMC specimen competition last November.
>  We
> also worked numerous fluorite pockets and extracted a number of fantastic
> specimens.  My best fluorite specimen (a 6" fluorite cluster featuring one
> 4" stepped cube crystal also took first place in the best self-collected
> specimen from the current year.  As great as it was to bring home some good
> specimens, the best reward for me was the thrill of seeing the pockets
> exposed and working with a good group of people to extract the crystals
> from
> them.
>
> While we were there we also did a night fluorescent dig at the Columbia
> mine
> and it too was also a success.  I have a 5 gal bucket full of brightly
> fluorescent rocks from this dig, including some with 4 colors on a single
> specimen.  This is wonderful fluorescent material and I encourage any of
> you
> who collect fluorescent minerals to consider a trip there.  If you are
> interested in either fluorite collecting or the fluorescent dig, contact
> the
> Ben Clement Mineral Museum in Marion KY to arrange a collecting trip for
> your club.  The fees from these trips help to keep this struggling museum
> alive.
>
> On the way home my wife and I also did some geode collecting in Indiana and
> some fossil collecting at a state park in Ohio.  At the famous Harrodsburg
> roadcut on state road 37 in Indiana we stopped so that I could climb up to
> a
> productive geode zone that I had worked last year.  I spent about 30
> minutes
> doing some hard work with hammer and chisel to free a 6" geode from the
> hard
> Indiana limestone.  Meanwhile my wife looked around the base of the roadcut
> and picked up a chunk of rock that had fallen off at some point in time.
> The rock was rounded on one end and she brought it to me to see if it was a
> geode.  Well it was indeed a geode; a 6" geode with a crack already
> started.  It took only one hammer blow to split it open to expose a very
> nice quartz crystal interior with a few nicely placed cream-colored
> dolomite
> crystals providing an aesthetic accent.  I had worked hard for 30 minutes
> to
> get my geode and she picked hers up off the ground!  By the way, her geode
> won first place in the self-collected, non-New England category at the BMC
> specimen competition.
>
> Well those are my storied from 2008.  Please share yours as well!!!
>
> best wishes for a safe and happy 2009,
> May all of your collecting trips be successful with your crystal specimens
> terminated & gemmy!
>
> Nate Martin
> Lexington, MA
>
>
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