Hackett Gulch Amazonite

Yesterday I went to Hackett Gulch, generally a dry arroyo that when wet feeds into the Platte R.  It was a fairly long trip on dirt roads, but the roads, though 4-wheel driveable were not too bad.  One large puddle had considerable mud at its bottom, but momentum got us through. Hackett Gulch is on the outskirts of the so-called Lake George Intrusive area, but still has several amazonite prospects.  I hadn't been in this area for two years and noted that one area appeared to have a new claim posted to it.  Posting was not clear and no central discovery point could be ascertained to this claim (not unusual for folks to not keep up their claims especially in remote areas like this one).  We also noted no recent digging.  For a claim to be valid it must be properly posted and if its a placer claim it needs to be worked a certain number of hours a year.  Folks often post claims and never take their stakes down. We didn't prospect the invalid claim area as there is more than enough untouched area up there to dig without causing a confrontation.  After 4 hours of prospecting I was about to give up when I noted a small pool of amazonite on the surface.  It was quite blue in appearance, I called over my digging buddy, but the spot only yielded a couple of collectible crystals.  This surface sign helped me discover a fairly large pegmatite just under the surface which may yield additional collectible crystals. On the way out of the area Bob also noted amazonite float on the surface down hill from the pegmatite.  We shall have to return soon to explore that area as well.

Amazonite from Hackett Gulch

Smoky Quartz from Bob&Ray Claim (different trip) Tesson habit

Mystery Crystal ? on smoky quartz and feldspar (not microcline) from Bear Creek