What a great trip. Went camping on BLM land (thanks for the Tip on these sites, Tim!) with Tim and JD Isenhart and Hunter. Tim offered to drive and since I had never done that road before (and had been warned that the Touareg wouldn’t make it up because of lack of clearance) I was excited to finally go to this long awaited destination!
We left first thing and make the long journey to the top. I think I could have made it with the VW, but there were 2 spots that would have been tricky. The road was definitely rough and high clearance is definitely required. We got to the top and started looking through the old tailings from the days of mining Beryl. Right away we found traces of aquamarine and started digging. Hunter didn’t dig that much but had a keen eye as he found most of the great rocks of the day. His double-terminated phenokyte (with remnants of Aquamarine) is spectacular; his topaz was great as well!
The drive was great and I hope to get up there again soon!
We ended the weekend stopping by Ruby Mountain which was basically just a few miles away. Hunter and I had already scoped this area out and found a bazillion Apache Tears and found what the Rhyolite looked like with some Garnets. JD and Tim found this nice garnet before leaving to go fishing.
It is nice that you enjoy rockhounding with the kiddos. your blog has been nice to look over. I have just started to poke around Jefferson County area and get used to the rocks and formations in the area. I did most of my hounding in VT, and NH. Was lucky enough to do a Labor Day weekend hunting Herks at Crystal Grove in NY. Thanks for sharing, and happy hunting.
Scott, thanks; I’m glad you enjoyed these; I certainly do as well! Cool that you’ve been able to hunt for herkermer quartz in the Northeast! I have yet to stray too far out of Colorado yet; but would love to hit that locale, the copper near the great lakes, the Fluorite in Illinois and New Mexico, the Peg in Southern California, the Quartz of Arkansas; etc… Hopefully over the years I’ll get to experience other areas; but I have been enjoying what Colorado has to offer. If you publish your adventures, I’d love to follow; let me know if you ever put your trips online! Good luck in Jeffco!