My last outing, A Weekly posting Options

[fenixsmom]

Didn't they use it to grind corn?

[russau]

Thanks Woody!

[Crusty]

Good to hear from you Woody!!

Look forward to watching you video when I get home. Would still love to hook up with you, but alas, I'm on the books for shoulder surgery April 8th that is going to leave my in a sling for 2-6 weeks :(

[russau]

good luck and hopeing for a fast recovery on that shoulder! i had that a year ago on my right shoulder and 4 years ago on my left shoulder. plan on sleeping in a recliner because you WONT be able to lay back after surjury for a couple of weeks!

[Caveman]

Fast healing to you, Crusty! All my friends who have had it have all said that it is worth it.

[CP]

Hope the shoulder surgery goes well with a speedy recovery time too Crusty.

Woody, looks darn nice down south in that last video. I think I know where you were but I don't know about the gastroliths theory.
Since I think I know about where you were, there are many placers there showing good water wear in the alluvial deposition and at least one of those stones you held up in the vid was a part of an interior to a T-egg.
Check the matrix on that stone compared to the surrounding area, I think you'll see they match?
Folks have found some pretty large ones there, up to a couple hundred pounds, so a worn out chunk baseball or softball sized wouldn't be uncommon there.

Thanks for sharing the vid with us all, sure makes me want to get out there to dig something!

[Woody]

I went out this weekend to do a little crustal hunting. It had been a long time and I was glad to have a few days off. I quickly left the main trail and started to clamber around the hill side. Soon I found a small area that held all the key indicators that I would expect would produce crystals. Just standing back and looking at the immediate ground you could see Quartz, Mica, and Microcline. And you could see that some of the quartz had formation to them. However, one key indicator gave me more hope that any other. Right as I started to dig I unearthed brilliant, metallic, bright red almost purple clay. Every time I have found this material it has always produced crystals. And indeed I did find crystals. They were not of great quality, at least not so far. The pocket is big enough that it will need another few visits to dig it all out. But right now I wish to focus on this Red Clay material.

I think the signal best indicator for crystals in this area is that red clay. Colo_ Heff informed me that the red material is left over residue from gas pockets. It can be found in several different forms ranging from soft malleable clay, to a fine metallic powder very much comparable to eyeliner. I believe the purest form of this gas pocket residue is in the powder form. It is extremely difficult to take a photograph that captures how brilliant this material can be, “might be a job for Chris”. The best way that I can think to describe it is to say that it appears to be a deep red metallic paint that looks soaking wet even though it is dry. Here is a few pictures that I took of the powder form. The pictures don’t do it any Justus.

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[Woody]

In this next picture you can see why I say it looks like Eyeliner. The last picture shows a few crystals that are typical of this hole so far. I found maybe 30 or so at this location. I don’t think this particular pocket will produce anything other than hazy gray crystals, no Smokeys. There should be some fluorite though.

I’ll keep you posted, Woody.

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[Crusty]

In this next picture you can see why I say it looks like Eyeliner. The last picture shows a few crystals that are typical of this hole so far. I found maybe 30 or so at this location. I don't think this particular pocket will produce anything other than hazy gray crystals, no Smokeys. There should be some fluorite though.

I'll keep you posted, Woody.

Great info Woody! Reminded me I found a spot on Gold Camp Road that someone had dug a little but didn't really get in to it and there was lots of that same "eyeliner" material around. Need to get back and check it out!

[lostnewb]

In this next picture you can see why I say it looks like Eyeliner. The last picture shows a few crystals that are typical of this hole so far. I found maybe 30 or so at this location. I don't think this particular pocket will produce anything other than hazy gray crystals, no Smokeys. There should be some fluorite though.

I'll keep you posted, Woody.

Woody,
Here are a couple more pics from the pocket we were working. Kids had a ball also. This was Blakes first find while digging on his own so he was super excited.






I have been trying to clean up some of these specimens using oxalic acid but it is a slow process so far. I will post more once I have some cleaned up and out of the ulrtrasonic cleaner. I also have some good pieces of fluorite to post from this pocket.

Chris

[Crusty]

Woody,
Here are a couple more pics from the pocket we were working. Kids had a ball also. This was Blakes first find while digging on his own so he was super excited.



Chris

That picture is priceless! He'll have great memories!

[Woody]

I'm sure he will. His dad’s name is Chris. The other day I took his dad along on a crystal hunt. He had been out with me a few times before but we had not really found much material. Earlier this winter I went on a duck hunt with Chris and his dad and I learned that the whole family shared the interest of rock hounding. So I decided to help them step it up a notch. I had been meaning to re-look at an area that I first dug into many years ago. At that time I was quite green and I can remember finding some stuff that looked kind of like quarts but wasn’t. So I just tossed it down the hill with the rest of the overburden. I later learned that it was in fact low grade Fluorite.

I always meant to return to that area but keep saving it for a good cause and this seemed to fit the bill nicely. As we made our way up the hill I was picking here, poking there, and just shy of my intended hole I found a small area that held all the key indicators. A simple flick of the pick produced a few low grade crystals and lots of purple clay. So much purple material that later I would come to call this hole the Deep Purple Pocket. Together we worked that spot for a few hours and it became clear there was a lot more to be unearthed. I figured this would be a great stopping spot and we left it “ripe for the pickings”. I knew him and his entire family would return the next day and had high hopes for them finding a few goodies.

That next day he brought along his wife, his son & daughter, “I think 4 and 6” and his dad. Together they worked that pocket and indeed pulled out some nice items. I had been in another area and met them just as they were getting to the car. What a sight we all looked. Everyone covered from head to toe with dirt and sporting Raccoon Eyes from the dust on their faces. We looked like the type of motley crew most folks would try real hard to avoid.

And good for us! We had all just spent the entire day rooting in the ground trying to find some minerals, old and young alike. I admit we probably would have had a hard time blending in with even the local Wal-Mart, but we were part of an exclusive club none the less. If wealth was judged by the width of a smile then our pockets were full of gold. The young’ens were priceless. Sure they looked as if they had been gnawing on pine sap but they were very excited to show me what they had found and you could tell they had fun. For the second time in a week I was thanked for sharing in good, quality family fun and it felt great.

The Deep Purple Pocket is still producing. I think it will kind of blend in with another pocket and became one. There should be enough material to get in several outings with my new digging partners. I’ll post up a few pictures as digging continues. I can’t wait to do it again, Woody.

This cyrstal came from that pocket and has yet to be cleaned. It is about the size of a Mason Jar.

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[swizz]

very cool trip Woody and.......
that is a monster and I cannot wait to see it cleaned up! Is it a combo?
Iffn I were you I might start thinkin' about filing a claim thar.

[swizz]

also.... I just got caught up on this thread and have to say that this pic is fantastic.

[Crusty]

very cool Woody! Can't wait to see what y'all pull out while making some rockhounding fans for life!