These actually appear to be quartz crystals covered with a red, (possibly hematite) coating. Well, at least that's what I think they are. We found these beauties high up on a scree slope.

Very cool! Did you get to collect them, or did you have to leave them behind?

Sweet finds DenverDan, those are very cool! By the size of the specimen in the first pic, I bet that's left to have a picnic on when out prospecting. We have spots like that where it's just too big to bring back. Sure makes for a great resting spot though to soak up the day. Thanks for sharing pics with us!

Howdy Crusty!

We tried to chip off hand samples from one of the two big boulders we found up there, but those little crystals would quickly abandon ship when they got jarred. Mrs.CP is right, they are still up there waiting for hikers to take a lunch break and enjoy the view. We did find some pieces nearby that were more portable, but it still required some creative back country packing with our extra fleece to get them out without damage.

Always nice to leave stuff behind for others to enjoy... despite how much you ponder any possible method of how you could pack out a couple hundred pound boulder lol