My last outing, A Weekly posting Options

[Woody]

Hello All,

I went up to the hills this last weekend with some family and set up camp where we’ll be staying for a couple of weeks during archery season. After all the work was finished, we headed over to
some of the lakes and did a little fishing. The Brookies were biting well and some measured over 18 inches long. Then we started catching a different Trout Species. One that is seldom seen. Can
anyone guess what this is? I’ll give you a hint…. It is a Hybrid! Hopefully I get back to this before I head out again and don’t leave everyone hanging for two weeks.

Also while we were there, my brother set up a trail cam to see what might be lurking around the camp at night. We did not see anything, “except Cows”, at night. But evidently a bear walked right
through camp in broad daylight. The time/date is not set correct but the best we can figure it must have been while we were away at one of the lakes. The pictures show the bear did not stick around
very long. One year not too long ago, we had a bear come into camp while we were out hunting. He tore things up a bit, but no lasting damages.

Should be another interesting hunt this year. Good luck to everyone, Woody.

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[swizz]

Gotta love the "truth cam"!
That's a Tiger Trout.... a sterile cross betwixt a Brown & Brookie. They can get really big and have only been stocked in select locations in Colorado in recent years.

[Woody]

Your Correct Swizz,

I knew you would know this one. In recent years these guys have been introduced to several lakes on the Western Slope in hopes of controlling the massive population of minnows. Some of these lakes
have millions of minnows in them. I think the minnows are the Fatthead Minnow variety. Nice Brookies up to 20 inches have been in these lakes for a while, but they don't seem to bother the minnows
much. The Tigers are already making a noticeable impact on the Minnow population.... Didn't see as many this year as in years past. The Tigers aren't self-sustainable but there seems to be a good
population mix from smaller ,"10 Inches" to the larger ones, "18 inches". I think that reflects maybe 3 years worth of stocking. These Tigers get big... 20 plus pounds. So Tiger fishing will be an
interesting addition to our annual hunting adventures.

Also a frequent visitor this year was a Mink. The little guy was not afraid of much, come right up to you even if you was moving around. At one time it looked like another member of the Weasel family
was stalking our little Mink friend. It could of been a Weasel, Ermine, or Pine Martian... kind of hard to tell at a distance but it was sure interested in that little mink.

I enjoyed my hunting trip and was successful at getting a cow this year. I have included some Trail Cam footage, mostly from one Cam I set up on the Elk Carcass. Had some interesting visitors there
has well.

1st pic.... Small Tiger, 2nd pic.... Nice Brookie, 3rd Pic.... Our Mink friend

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[Woody]

Here is the link to that Trail Cam video, and also a pic of one of the bigger Tigers

https://youtu.be/NxJNKYyL1o8

Enjoy, Woody.

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[swizz]

Incredible fish Woody, and that trail cam vid is.... WOW!

[Woody]

Hi All,

This weekend I had an opportunity to scratch something off my Summer Bucket list. One of the items I wanted to do before the snow sets in was prospect an area in the high country for crystals. It is
located about 1300 feet +/- and can be covered by snow some years as early as mid-October. Although I've been to this specific location many times in the past, I have never quite satisfied my
prospecting itch for the area. I have always found some interesting clusters and the crystals from this area are water clear. Admittedly they are not vey big. The largest are just over an inch and they do
run a little on the skinny side.

So any who... I met up with a friend/associate in the early morning and together we drove the 2 hours to our destination. The trail was fairly steep to start with but that helped to stave off the cold.
About half way up the hill I started seeing sign for what I was looking for and venturing off the trail a few yards we slowly started to find crystals. We found some decent material, and after working the
area for a while we continued our hike up the hill to a spot I have collected Galena in the past. We spent most of the day hammering on rocks and chipping out Galena while constantly adjusting to the
on again/off again snow storms.

I don't think I answered any questions and I certainly didn't fulfill my prospecting itch for this area. Need to return with some bigger tools, no sense of time, and more Summer. probably something to put in next year's
Summer Bucket List. Thanks Nate for driving and I Look forward to doing it again sometime, Woody.

1st and 2nd pics show what some of the better Crystal Pockets look like.
3rd pic shows the nice view and another round of snow rolling in.

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[Crusty]

Looks like an awesome spot Woody! I'd need to account for the extra weight of an O2 bottle lol

[ChuckD]

Just looking at that list pic of the landscape makes me want to just drop everything and head to Colorado. As much as I want to find my first piece of gold or some kind of "something-or-other"... I can't help but think that simply being able to stand there and take in that view alone would make the trip worthwhile. Thanks for posting. You're lighting a fire under me...

[swizz]

I can't help but think that simply being able to stand there and take in that view alone would make the trip worthwhile.

I have lived here for about 40 years now and can honestly attest that the mountain views and wilderness never get old. I find myself appreciating my surroundings daily, no matter the season. I feel pretty blessed to have found myself in the mountains for most of my life.
Beautiful pics Woody!

[James and Cyndi]

Good stuff!!!

[nate]

It was an excellent trip! It's always great to get out with you Woody.

[Woody]

Hi all, I agree we do live in a very wonderful and stunning place, and I appreciate every day I am able to enjoy the wonderful outdoors .

I have been spending a few late nights after work this week and well….. I guess I kind of made something! “Nate this is some of that material from that location I showed you about a month ago”.
These are my first attempts at trying to polish a stone and set it in a pendant setting. They may not be the quality of which you might find sitting in a Macy’s window but I’ll show them to a person with
a grin on my face…thinking I done something. Of course all the “glory” goes to the stone itself, it already looks good before I get a hold of it.

These pictures don’t do the shine on the stone no justice at all. I’m sure the gloss would come out much better in the daylight but I can’t wait to post some pictures of, “Here…. lookie at what I did!”.
A few years ago I bought a 6-inch Inland swaptop Lapping machine from Swizz, “Thanks again Chris”. Well, over the years I’ve made A cut here… A cut there… and slowly I’ve gotten to know it a little
better. These stones do look good in hand, but even in the pictures you can see there are numerous “holes” still in my game. I see in one of the pictures I need to bend some of the locking tabs down
some more…… in another I see the stone was not quiet the right size for the setting. But you know what?...... I’m fine with that! These were my first attempts and I think I can learn from my mistakes
and make the next batch better.

Here are some of the lessons I learn’t so far;

- The first one I did was the large round one… it came out nice but I quickly figured out I should have bought the setting first, then made the stone. What I did was… cut the goodies out of a rock…
polished it up… and then went looking for a setting to fit the dimensions of my new stone. So first get the setting, then cut/shape the stone to match… not vice verse!
- The next thing I did was bought some settings and cut the stone to match.... And quickly learn’t that by the time you finish grinding and polishing…. The stone now falls through the setting….. so
cut larger than the setting and shape to fit accordingly! “That’s why two of the five stones are not in settings, they are now too small.”
- Lastly, I’ve got to figure something out about bending those locking tabs…. They are kicking my butt and come out looking like gnarly broken fingers.

Anyway I had fun. I hope you enjoy the pics, Woody.

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[Woody]

Here are some close-ups of some of the stones.

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[swizz]

VERY NICE!!

[Crusty]

Beautiful material! Great job making them in to something you can show off!