Staurolites near Taos NM

The Vehicle we really needed for this trip!

                  We went to Taos for a weekend getaway and do some rockhounding.  Our local club in Colorado Springs was going to look for staurolites near Pilar NM, so we went along.  The road was quite rough and muddy.  We joked about broken oil pans and engine lights on, but despite a few scrapes on our skid plates the trip went well.  We drove on a forest road for about 2.5 miles. We located schist outcrops and the hunting for staurolites began.  We all found something (Staurolites and Garnets).  The picture above of a vehicle just outside of Taos would have been nice to have, though maybe too wide for the narrow road. Staurolites crystals are famous for their twinning properties. However not all are twins. They are a silicates made of Fe,Al, Mg and SiO

Schist outcrop upper right

Schist plate with small garnets and staurolites

Here is a staurolite crystal in matrix (schist)

This staurolite weathered out of the schist and is ready to clean and be made into perhaps a pendant.

End of Day Group Hug... Yes the sun finally came out!