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

awesome. what will you do with it?

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.

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

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).

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!

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.

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.

More Pics

27th of May, 2011

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.
...and Gold!!
What more could you ask for?
Kudos!!

Awesome day indeed! What a great adventure, thanks for sharing the pics. I really like the trilobites in redish sedimentary material, nice finds!

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!

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

Had an opportunity to check out areas 17 and 18 this weekend. I wanted to explore some areas that I had never been before and this location fit the bill. I had my stepdaughter and her friend along for the camping trip so I was not expecting to do any heavy gold panning. Both area reports and directions were well defined and easy to follow/find. The roads were well maintained and 2wd vehicles should do fine in good weather.

We first visited LM area 17. We took a long hike up the hill that lasted most of the day. It was a great time to be up in the high country. Wild flowers were in full bloom and temperatures were excellent. This place offers many different experiences and is close enough to the main roads that it would be a great place to host a large family outing. We saw a lot of wildlife sign. Evidence of deer, elk, and bear were everywhere and even with 3 people and a dog we were able to get close to some deer. It was the neighbor kids first time being out in the Colorado Mountains so I was glad she was able to see some animals.
This area is a little too dry for my style of gold prospecting. I did not find water in the area. I have never had an opportunity to do any dry washing and am very unfamiliar with the required technique. I intend to someday broaden my horizons and learn this method but for now I had to pass. I think this area is however well suited for rock hounds. I found a lot of material that would probably make great polished slabs. I found several different locations were people had dug material out of the ground. I wasn’t quite able to work out what they were after. I don’t think it was gold but they put in a lot of effort getting after something. I would like to return at a later time when I am more focused and able to explore at a slower pace.

Next we went to area 18. I was looking for an area that had water close by so I could hang out with the kids but still play in the dirt. We never made it. As it turned out the road was closed at the point where it crosses into NFS land for the second time. The sign says something like “Closed seasonally from 1 April to 15 June for Elk Calving”. Being as this is a trophy hunting area, “Area 49”, I fully understand the necessity to close it off and we were not upset. There was a nice little spot close to the gate so that’s where we set up camp. Again no water so I just left my gold panning tools packed up for the week end. We took several hikes in the area and the views here are truly remarkable. I took lots of pictures but the smoke in the air from all the wildfires burning kind of messes up the picture. Early the next morning I hiked up to a hill top to try to get a pic before the smoke set in. As I was climbing up the hill a Cow Elk came running right at me and the dog. She got to about 20 feet of us before she veered off to the right. Gave the dog a good jolt. She is not yet two and this was her first encounter with up close wildlife. The Elk circled back and started barking at us. “That’s right, I said Barking”. Her body language told me she had a calf close by so we changed our direction of travel and this seemed to settle her down. I made it up the hill and got the shot I wanted.

Had a great time in these two areas and can’t wait to post some pics. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be back soon. Have a good one, Woody.

Pics coming soon~

I don't normally post family pics but these guys strong-armed me. The second pic is of an Iris and another flower that I am unfamiliar with.

The first pic has an Elk in it. Can ya see her? She stood there for a few seconds barking at us. The second pic is one of the best views I've seen in a long time. It was a short hike from where we camped. Have a good one, Woody.

Woody,
Great report and another worthwhile adventure (I like the barking Elk story). You are definitely blessed with two beautiful kids and a nice ol pup!
Those are some good pics. I was able to spot the Elk but had to enlarge and still struggled for a few... good one.
Thanks for the scouting on LM17. I need to expand my horizons and get over there sometime myself (dang fuel prices, grrr).
Keep up the good work. I'm enjoying your explorations vicariously as my work schedule has begun to tighten up a bit!
I had a very close Bear encounter camping last week... but that'll have to be a campfire story for another time.

Woody that flower looks like a dwarfed Iris,according to my wife!

Thanks for the encouragement Swizz. I sure enjoy getting up in those hills. I usually go at it alone but anytime the young’ens want to tag along I don’t mind. It looks like next weekend I will be taking my Stepson and one of his friends. I’m not sure what areas I will try, I want to get up high but don’t think conditions warrant the effort right now. Will have to wait and see. I can't wait to hear that Bear story.

Russau any idea what that yellow flower would be. I’ve seen them often but don’t know what they might be called.

Here is another flower that I have seen frequently in the hills but don’t know the name of.

id have to ask my wife!

Fantastic update, and Im really enjoying the photos! Happy looking family!

There is definately so much to enjoy out there, one just has to open their eyes to see it. Good eye Woody!

I know Im not Russ's wife , but I thnk it might be a Sego Lily.
Here is a picture I took of one with a visitor on it at the 07' rally.

Looks like a Sego Lily to me.

Thanks for the info on the wildflower guys. Now I have a name to match the face and I see some amazing pics when I search for it on google. Woody.

Headed for the high country this weekend.

I went out with my brother this weekend and we finally got the dredge out on a creek. I wanted to get a little higher but as you can see by the first pic the weather was still a little unfavorable. We settled for going back down the mountain a bit lower. There was still ice on the ground each morning when you woke up but we waited for the sun to come out and thaw things out nicely before we started playing in the water. Even with a wet suit on it was still very chilly. This area is not one of the club spots but it is a known gold producer and has been well worked historically. We had never worked the area before so we hand panned until we found some color and just went from there. The first day was spent poking a hole and cutting into the bank. On the second day we tried to figure the gold out. By that I mean we did not know if the gold was better deeper, coming from the bank, or just mixed in with the top overburden. We decided to dredge straight down in the small hole we had created the day before to see what that looked like. All the gold in the second pic was the total take from the first day of dredging. Going straight down produced absolutely nothing. This was not considered a total loss and would be valuable information to someone who was really trying to figure the gold out. It meant the gold was either located in the bank or coming from the recently deposited top layer of sediment. In the end, we closed the book on this chapter believing the gold was only in the very top layer from recent run off action. Finding a spot that had never been worked would probably produce good results but the area we were in was pretty much played-out. We will have to find a different location next time.

Here are some pictures of the dredge in action.

I went to the Western Slope this Fathers Day weekend.

I had a real great time this weekend. I went up to the Grand Mesa with one of my brothers and my father. We kicked the ATV’s out at a parking spot only about 7 miles from my dad’s house. We then rode for two hours on the bikes to a really cool spot on the southern end of the Grand Mesa. We use to go here a lot when I was younger but I have not been to this part of the Mesa in over 30 years. My family had recently been fishing in one of the many lakes that are found here and done every well. In one of their outings they only caught 4 Brookies but the smallest was over 18 inches long. Imagine that, only catching four fish but each and every one of them qualify for a Master Angler Award. So we pitched a tent at one of the lakes and settled-in for a three day camping trip. I didn’t care that it rained almost the entire time, or that we did not catch any of those trophy Brookies. I still had a great time. Maybe it was the right time of the year or just the sharing of good company but this place is amazing. The wild flowers were in full bloom. You could smell them in the air almost every time you took a breath. It really felt good to be back in my old stomping grounds. In the end we departed Sunday morning and made plans to do a pack-in hunt in this location for Archery Season. I can’t wait to go back.

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Lots of different lakes in the area

The wild flowers were in Full Bloom>

More flowers.

Since it was Fathers Day I had to post one of good ol' dad. Happy fathers Day.

Woody,
Awesome trip reports and pics!!!!!
To me, this is the best time of year... and Happy Father's Day!

Always great to hear about your outings Woody, and the pictures are great! The wildflowers are always a pleasure to see, and you show some good ones.

This one that you showed is really cool.....


It's a Ballhead Waterleaf (Hydrophyllaceae), and is said to be the only Hydrophyllum which has flowers located below it's leaves.
They usually grow in river bottoms, prairies and open woods from low to medium elevation.
Very pretty flower!!


Thanks for sharing with us, and I'm glad to see you had a good Fathers Day (Happy Fathers Day!).

My fourth of July Weekend.

Went up to Northern Colorado this weekend and visited a claim owned by Chris, aka Swizz. I had an awesome time and was introduced to a part of the state I had never seen before. The views offered in this area are unlike anything I imagined. I always thought the border between Colorado and Wyoming was in a flatland type area like the corridor of I-25. It was a pleasant surprise. Colorado never seizes to amaze me.
When I got up to the claim the first thing I did was have a look around. Historically there has been a lot of mining activity at this claim location. Deep holes, tailing piles, and large sections of metal can be seen throughout the claim. Water is at a premium so large amounts of effort must have been consumed in getting the material closer to the main stream. We spent a lot of time in the evenings poking around in the campfire and discussing theories but some secrets are lost to the mountains forever.

Digging in the soil quickly produced an assortment of aggregate with lots of Quartz, heavy material, and black sand. The amount and size of Garnets found here are worthy of mention. I think someone skilled at working small stones might be interested in this as well. “Hint-hint, Mrs. CP”. In some areas there was a fair amount of overburden, in others the colorful gravel was laying on the ground like topsoil. Lots of the material comes out of the ground as if it has been recently run through a rock crusher. The edges are sharp and jagged. Occasionally a fist sized stone will pop-out with perfectly rounded sides indicating geologic activity has been selectively kinder to that one. I think there is a good, distinct representation of at least two separate glacial activities found here as well with several inches of material between the two layers.

It was difficult to keep my nose out of my screenings and focus on production. In the end I failed at that task, just way too many sparkly, shinny things to distract a person. At first it was a crap-shoot at finding the yeller stuff. But we soon settled into an area and started to work the side of a bank. I did not run a lot of material but collectively we found several nice pickers and most of the gold was chunky. This place has much potential. We sampled only a small area and different minds will come up with different prospecting styles. There is room for that here. So if anyone is interested, check out Swizz’s thread in the member’s area. I’m sure you will find it interesting. Have a good one, Woody.

A pic of some chunky Gold. Even the small ones have depth.

Here are a few pics of the surrounding area and I have to throw one in of some neat wild flowers I found.

Chris is a great guy, Im glad you two were able to get together and enjoy the weekend.
Sounds and looks like it was a great time Woody! It's always a pleasure reading about your adventures.
Very nice looking gold you recovered. Were you panning or sluicing? Inquiring minds want to know.

I love finding the Garnets in the concentrates.....especially the larger ones! I find it's easier to get them out when the concentrates are dry.
They make great critter eyes in the smaller rock sculptures I create.

Looking forward to your next outing update!

Mrs. CP,


We did very little panning. Almost all of our test areas were small bucket loads ran through the sluice. The stream has to be modified to even get a spot deep enough to pan. The bank is that dark black, clayish, bog stuff in a lot of places and can easily be cut into a perfect mold for the sluice. Which is a good thing because it takes almost every drop of water that brook has to be able to run your material. Most of my gold was recovered right off the black mat. I was able to pick 5 pieces up by fingertips and place them in my sucker bottle. The picture does not do these flakes any Justice. The biggest would not even fit in the tube of the sucker bottle. I really think in just a short time Ol' Chris will be into the good stuff. As for the garnets, there was some that were too big to fit through the #8 screen. How big do they have to be for you to be able to work them on a polisher? Maybe next time I go there I, "or Chris", can save you a sample. Woody
.

Woody,
Here is a pic of some of my Gold after clean-up from our trip last weekend. Like you said... chunky. Mostly larger pieces and barely anything in the "flour" category from this sampling.
Most pieces in this pic are between #12 and #30, not much smaller.. which is GOOD! ...especially since we technically did not move an awful lot of material.


Casa De Woody


Nice n peaceful


Good times.

Nice pics Swizz thanks,

Glad to see you came away with some good looking color. How does it compair with that sampling you did with the dredge. See, thats another part, getting that dredge set up on the main creek is bound to produce. Just got to figure out what depth the color is. You might be mindful and check if the water flow has changed since last weekend. If so, I have a couple of other stratigies that you might consider.

That tent looks like it is calling my name. Have a good one, Woody

I was never able to get the dredge going, pump mucked before she sucked. There actually may be Gold in my pump... need to de-muck and pan it.
Everything I dug at the head of the main pond was by hand. I think the stuff we were getting from Bear Sh!t Creek was larger but I still want to continue my sampling at the pond, there was some nice stuff there also.

Sweet update, and great looking finds Chris! Don't you just love finding gold in all the spots you test?
Makes me think of being in a chocolate factory...........too many choices, but enough time to test it all!
Sweet being a claim owner isn't it Chris?




Sounds great Woody, even the smaller chips can be worked into a project, even if its too small to polish. If I can fit it on my finger tip, I can polish it. I was going to use unpolished Garnets for the snowman's eyes I made, but decided not to. Dan said it looked best just as it was, so I went with his oppinion. I do have a larger snowman in the works made of Colorado white banded agate that I was wanting to use Colorado garnets for, and those sound perfect! What colors of Garnets have you guys been finding? I can see them in the pictures, but can't really tell the colors well.

Thanks for offering Woody! What would really be cool is if I could get up there and find some for myself.
Looks like were missing out on some good times, great people and sweet finds!

Very sweet.
Your chocolate factory comment was spot on!
Short mining seasons and still MUCH sampling to do. ...my kinda work though.
It is VERY nice to have mineral rights indeed.

Here are some of those crunchy Garnets.

Sweet Garnets and great color!! Very cool indeed!

Sunday, July 10th.

I Had a Great day digging Crystals this weekend. In fact, it was possibly my best day ever. I had to stay in close to home because I had to turn in my truck on Sunday for more repairs. “Hopefully all that mess is over with soon”. I had spent about 5 hours up in the hills and was just about to stop and call it a day. A strong rain storm was moving in and I was working a spot right on the crest of a high mountain. I hadn’t found much and was kind of disappointed. I was beginning to think all my prior visits had cleared this hole out. Then my workings broke through into a cavity. At first it was only a small Mouse hole. I stuck my finger in and could not feel the end. I worked the edges a little and was able to sneak a peek inside. I could see the sparkle of crystals inside and I could tell the hole widened out. I was like a kid in a Candy Store. Could it be I finally found my first Crystal Pocket? I quickly broke the edges away some more. I stopped only for a brief moment to take a couple of pics with my phone camera. “Just my luck I forgot my camera in the truck”. Crystals quickly started popping out with ease. Soon I was able to get my entire hand inside and could feel no end to the back of the pocket. More pics, more breaking away at the edges. Every time my hands go into the pocket crystals seem to just fall into them. Sometimes I had to let go of one or more of the crystals in order for my hand to fit back through. I am reminded of a story that my dad told me;

During the Vietnam time frame, my day was stationed on an island in the South Pacific somewhere. He said that the locals would catch Monkeys by making a Monkey Trap. They would drill a hole in a tree and widen out the hole. Then they would place a Peanut inside the hole. When the Monkey would grab the Peanut, its closed fist would be too big to come back through the hole. The monkey would not let go of the Peanut even when someone approached. “Good to know if you’re ever in the Jungles of the South Pacific.”

Now with all of its fury, the storm starts to cut loose. No way am I stopping for just a little Downpour. But the Lighting is getting super-close. I have to concede that I soon must seek shelter. The rain is coming down in buckets. The Lighting is so close that there is no space between the flash of light and the Crack of the Thunder. Now I am able to put my arm into the hole up to about my mid-bicep. I can’t feel any end with my fingertips, only the smooth sides of crystals. I work feverishly to stuff handfuls of material into my backpack.

That’s when I had to stop and have a good chuckle. I was out of control! No way should I be doing it like this. I was poorly prepared at best. I didn’t have wrapping paper to protect the good ones. I was throwing everything into the same pocket of the backpack. I was breaking up clusters as I was bringing them out and not paying attention to what went where. Yes this was really cool, and yep that storm was getting dangerous, but that did not mean I had to grab it all and run. So I had to make a hasty retreat. Before I left I stuck my arm in as far as I could and still felt more crystals. I then hid my Crow Bar as I did not want to carry around a Lightning Rod at the moment and beet-feet off that hill top. Only after I was about half way down did I reanalyze I had made yet another mistake. I forgot to block the hole. No chance of anyone hurting themselves in it but anyone will take one look at that now rabbit sized hole and say, ALLLLL RIGHTTTTT!

And I have to wait until my truck is finished before I can go back up there. I will not sleep well tonight. Have a good one, Woody.

Sorry the pics are poor quality. I only had my Cell phone at the time.

When I left the hole was still going deeper than I could stick my arm in. It wasn’t quite up to my shoulder but I would have to open up the entrance to allow for better body position. This is a pic of some of the larger ones that I did a quick clean up on. There must be over 100 of the littler pieces. ~

I can't wait to get back.

Nice Pic of the Gernets Swizz. It sure looks to me like those are big enough to work. Now it will be extra hard to keep our noses out of the screenings. LOL.