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My last outing, A Weekly posting
Woody
post May 1 2011, 04:55 PM
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Looking for Amazonite and Crystals

It was suspossed to be a real cold & crappy day around here according to the weather station so I was all set-in for a boering weekend. . I got up and it was cold but clear. Then I listened to the weather report again and it said the snow should start falling around noon. I figured I had about 5 good hours of usable time so I headed up to the local spot in the hills. I wanted to work a spot that I had found the week before and know there is still some "items of interest" left in it. It was a little chilly but that hill will turn up the heat quick. I never made it to my intended spot. As usual, I don't take the same path up the hill twice. I kind of zig-zag up it to the height I want to be at then shoot straight accrossed. This time I stumbled into a different area that hadn't been worked and showed good amazonite. I figured to shoot my entire 5 hour wad at this new sight and call it a day from there. But the expected fowl weather did not set in as expected. So after working that area for awhile I set off in another direction. This time I went prospecting for crystals. By prospecting I mean, randomly digging a small hole here and there and see if something looks good. I trapsed up and down the hillside and found two more spots that had been worked for Amazonite but did not look promising for any good grade specimens. One hole I dug did produce some crystals. I brought back around 70 bits and pieces. All in all I was very satisified with my Saturday. I got to put in around 10 hours of hill time on what was suspossed to be a crappy day and found more areas that need worked.

In the pic you can see the Amazonite clearly but the other crystals are, well kind of lumpy. I believe they are "Pseudo-morphed" or something. Not sure. Anybody got any guesses?? Later, Woody
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golden_journey
post May 1 2011, 05:45 PM
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awesome. what will you do with it?


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Woody
post May 2 2011, 09:26 AM
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For the most part I just put them out back and watch my Rock Garden grow. I do have a nice “indoor” collection of materials that I have collected since I was a child but most of the stuff I find does not measure up. I have quite a collection of odds and ends out back. At times I ponder selling the lot to a rock shop or possibly donating some of the material to a local Science class. The main enjoyment is in procuring the specimens. I wish I was set up with a saw and cabbin machine. Maybe someday if I retire? Till then I will just keep bring home more stuff for the wife to throw at me. Have a good one, Woody.


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Woody
post May 9 2011, 09:56 AM
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Drew a blank on prospecting this weekend.

I was intending to get up around Taylor and sniff for some of that elusive yeller stuff but once I got there I found conditions unfavorable. In some places the snow was still 4 feet high. It is way too early to hit the high stuff. There seems to be a very late run-off this year especially on the western side of the hills. The Front Range area looks to be melting nicely but west of Salida and Buena Vista the mountains are still holding there snow pack. I will have to try a little lower next time.

Continuing on my trip, I went to Blue Mesa and spent some time with my family over there. We caught a few from all the main food groups; Rainbows, Brownies, Kokos, and Big Macs. Sometimes a person has to take advantage of what nature offers. This time of year is excellent for fishing. Later, Woody


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Woody
post May 17 2011, 10:04 PM
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Nasty weather again this weekend. Not much chance of getting high up in the hills so I settled for getting muddy, wet, and cold closer to home. I went back up to the Pikes Peak area and sniffed around looking for Crystals. Didn't have much luck until just before dark and I tried one last spot. I found a handful in a little pocket that was only about 2 inches from the surface. Nothing too fancy, but a little something for my efforts. I keep looking for that elusive doubble terminated opaque Smoky snuggled comfortably in a bed of Amazonite. Till then, I will take what comes up and be thankful for it.

I am still keeping an eye the high ground and will soon focus my efforts to Gold prospecting. I was able to get down the dredge this weekend and gave it a check-up. I am happy to say it now has a Clean Bill of Health. Good luck to you all, Woody.

Here is a pic of the three biggest crystals. (Sorry, I do need to get a better camera).
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mikeybrew
post May 23 2011, 09:15 PM
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Some nice amazonite in that first pic, if all that was found in a half day of poking around, you're doing alright! Must be a pretty decent locale. Congrats on the finds!
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Woody
post May 25 2011, 12:07 PM
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Thanks Mikeybrew,

Location, location, location. I just started going to this spot about 2 months ago, “been away for a long time”, and every time I end up finding more and more places where people have dug to get at the Amazonite. Some of the places are very old and done a long time ago, in other areas the material is laying everywhere. I spend a lot of time working near some of these areas looking to see if there is still any left others may have overlooked. I’m looking for what I call, “Wild Amazonite”, stuff nobody has ever seen before. I tend to pass on most of the tailings of others as I figure they surely got the better pieces. I have pulled some basketball sized chunks of rocks out of the ground that were about half Amazonite but they were mostly of poorer quality. Low Quality Amazonite crumbles easily in hand. It would be more correct to say it “Cleaves” much like Mica but in bigger slabs. Hopefully one day I will find a sample that has good color and is combined with Smoky Crystals.

This last weekend I had family come down so I never made it out prospecting for gold like I wanted to but did manage to hit the hills on Sunday looking for crystals. I found one area that the Amazonite is clearly visible in a vain about 1 foot wide and 20 feet long. It is on the side of a small cliff face and it has been worked for many years. I took a couple of whacks at it myself but after about 2 hours I was satisfied that it contained only low quality material as well. I continued to scratch around for other items and did find some Fluorite with a faint color of purple. Most of the stuff I found was not very big and I would love to post some pics but I really, really need to get a camera that does macro. Have a good one, Woody.


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Woody
post May 27 2011, 09:40 PM
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27th of May, 2011
Finally able to get out and start prospecting for gold today. I’m usually not one to sit behind the wheel and go nature viewing, “I prefer getting off the roads”, but this morning Mother Nature was just throwing it at me. On the way out of town I seen the customary Mule Deer & Antelope then a little ways further I spotted two different groups of Cow Elk and thought to myself, “well at least it starts nice”. Then I was actually looking on the side of the road where I had seen a Badger several years before and from out of the blue, here comes a Bear. It took me a few seconds to get stopped and get the camera out but I did manage to get a picture. I was having a great day all ready. I also seen another small heard of Elk and this time there was three Bulls in Velvet. I stopped and watched them for a few seconds and noticed that the biggest Bull had a broken hind leg. It swung from side to side and was totally useless. I might be mistaken but that ol’ feller probably won’t be around to see the end of summer. I wish him luck.
Anyway, back to panning. I only ran a couple of buckets through the sluice but it was enough to know I was in an area that might reward someone if they worked hard at it. My intent was to check out the entire area and not get to involved with just the stream. There is still a fair amount of snow on some of the slopes in the high country so I did not stray too far. I found color in both the stream and hillside. Nothing very big but I was satisfied, “the pic I took is the first one I ever seen that makes small specs look big”. It was spitting rain and snow with high winds & Cold temperatures so I did not stay very long. I shall return another day with heavier equipment like a high banker or dredge.
I then headed over and checked out an area that I heard a person could find Trilobites if he looked hard enough. It was about 70 miles away and by the time I got there the weather had changed to mostly sunny. I didn’t find any at first and was about to give up when I figured out the secret. Just like gold, you got to find the right depth.
So me and the dog had a nice day. We found some color, some Trilobites, and got to see some awesome sights. The best part of it all is, the weekend just started! Woody.

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Woody
post May 27 2011, 09:44 PM
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More Pics
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Woody
post May 27 2011, 09:48 PM
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27th of May, 2011
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swizz
post May 27 2011, 09:55 PM
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Woody,
Wow! What a great adventure and thanks for sharing those pics. Pretty rare to see a Bear out and about like that. We see them here but only the ones that come into town and raid everyone's trash, which is different.
I really like the Trilobites, rare finds indeed and interesting reddish matrix. happy088.gif
...and Gold!!
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post May 29 2011, 08:38 AM
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Awesome day indeed! What a great adventure, thanks for sharing the pics. I really like the trilobites in redish sedimentary material, nice finds!
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mikeybrew
post May 31 2011, 09:37 PM
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Great trilobites, I didn't know 'bites of that quality could be found in Colorado. Would you be willing to share the location? If not, completely understood, but never hurts to ask!
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Woody
post Jun 1 2011, 10:52 AM
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No problem,

Just shoot me an email and I will fill you in. This is also fairly close to area I do my rock collecting in also so you might want to make a day of it. The invite is open to come out with me anytime. Here is my E-mail address; Badger4life@q.com I will not post specifics on line but I don't mind sharing the experince. Later, Woody.


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mikeybrew
post Jun 2 2011, 09:17 PM
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QUOTE (Woody @ Jun 1 2011, 11:52 AM) *
No problem,

Just shoot me an email and I will fill you in. This is also fairly close to area I do my rock collecting in also so you might want to make a day of it. The invite is open to come out with me anytime. Here is my E-mail address; Badger4life@q.com I will not post specifics on line but I don't mind sharing the experince. Later, Woody.


Thanks Woody, I'll touch base with you via email. My collecting days are limited this year as we have a baby in the house this year, but I'll get out there a few days for sure, and always interested in new sites and material. Thanks!

-Mikey
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