had an hour to kill so I went to clear creek just west of tunnel one and through down a few test pans. got some small garnets. coulpe cool lokking stones and saw what looked like micro fine gold in my pan. not really sure but it moved last. anyway I was wondering, I hit mainly light sandy material and some small light gravel and I went about seven to eight inches deep behind a small boulder. or large rock I guess lol. how far down before descent black sand? can anyone say a rough guess.

really it depends on a lot of factors, ive never been to clear creek but i usually have a few generals rules for behind boulders,
how far from the streem was it 2, 3, 8 feet?
what shape is the rock,
how much is sticking out?
how fast is the flow around the rock, (if and when there is)
personally if you have even a small sluice, i use a 30in for testing, ill spend 4 hours in a spot, all testing but slowily running material to see i wanna bring in the 12"X60" box in.

because i usually use a 30 incher in my testing i will dig out around a boulder 5 feet from the steep bank on 3 sides enough to roll the boulder down into the hole i dug. generally the rocks i do this to are around the size of mini fridges to full size fridges.

if that boulder turns up good color, i will do the same to every large rock in the boulder field.

its alot of work but some times it can "pan out" very very well.

So I was able to sift through my classified tailings and found a stone that I think is a blue garnet. I was excited about the find. Can someone confirm or educate me about how to confirm its a blue garnet please.

That would be pretty killer if it's a Garnet or other mineral. Most likely glass but you can do a hardness test on it to help narrow things down. A Mohs hardness test or test kit would be the thing... they're not too expensive and I wish I had one myself! It's been on the list for a long time. that would likely be the only true way to tell.
Most reddish Garnets are weakly magnetic. Try a strong rare earth magnet and see if you get even a very slight attraction, curious.

A nice quick tester trip, gotta' love those. Sounds like it was a fun time too.
If that is an actual blue garnet that would be a really sweet find for sure! Blue garnets are the rarest ones and are blue because of vanadium inclusions when the garnet is formed if I remember it correctly.
Unfortunately I believe Swizz is correct though, your find appears to be a piece of glass that's been tumbled in the creek polishing off the rough edges. An easy test would be the hardness test Swizz also suggested, you could use a piece of steel (file, knife or nail?) to carefully scratch at the surface (watch the fingers though).
If one of those can scratch the piece then it's more than likely for sure glass. If it's a garnet the steel will not scratch it since it's hardness would be harder than the steel.

Would be super sweet if it does turn out to be a garnet, looks very gemmy blue for cutting! Best of luck on it being one too, bet the ol' timers would be rolling over in their graves to find out they missed something like that back then even.

On digging depths behind the boulder, like the others said, depends on where and how big etc. but you'll generally want to be deeper than 7-8 inches most anytime along Clear creek. Especially in the water flow area as that top layer gets turned over with good turbulence nearly daily this time of year with melt off water flows. Where that soil has a chance to move that much is normally going to be just above where you'd find the gold settling out spot.
Make sense?

Keep us posted on blue find id too, would love to hear it is garnet.

So i dont have the money for a mohs test kit yet but i do have steel needle files. I scratched both a green colored one and an amber colored one andcould see the scratches with my naked eye. I tried to scratch the blue one and even with a jewelers loop could not see any damage to the blue one. I am now letting my hopes build a little that it may very well be a blue garnet. I was excited when i found it and almost tossed it back thinking it was glass but a second thought and look at it told me to put it in my pocket. Getting glad i did lol. It really is good looking in the light and under the jewelers loop looks like the fifty little red garnets i have collected as well. Those were small but that one is huge compared to them. Thank you both for the advice and replies. I will hold off on saying it is a garnet for sure til i can afford a mohs test kit but it looks hopeful.

Could it possibly be a sapphire?

glass.

At this point, I would take it to a reputable jeweler (one that has a smith on site, not just sales personnel) and have them test it. Most will be very intereste because they rarely get to see rough stones. Make sure the test it with short wave uv... and it will be obvious right away whether or not it's a garnet. Good luck!

Will they charge me to have it tested? I will have to get it tested regardless but even the idea of finding it even if it turns out to be glass was a fun day on the creek.

I never have been charged - but if you want them to appraise it, they might. Try the Shane Co. on 36 and 104th. A good rock shop can do the same, if they have other than sales people there.

Thanks caveman. I really do appreciate the advice

So I went to harbor freight after seeing a video on YouTube and for 15 dollars got a submersible pump and put together a little recirculation sluice. I had about 7 flakes that were small but caught Em. It will start me off.

i made one of those with two. cut one straight.
i also bought an ez slcuice from teedee works really really well for small creeks, i also can attatchit to the top of my rain gutter sluice to make sure i get it all.

I think what you have there is glass. The only known "blue" garnets are actually color-change varieties that change from a greenish or purplish blue to a purplish red. Rather expensive! You can see some pics on the D&J Rare Gems site.