Rock Hounding at Lake George

A View Of The Tarryalls... Will Winter Ever End?

Still snow up at Lake George. We had a recent 10 inch dump of snow last weekend and there is still a bit of snow lying about. While rock hounding at Lake George today we got some graupel, but no accumulating snow. Not exactly a Chamber of Commerce day up there, but it was good to get out. Flowers continue to bloom despite the weather. Digging was a little wet this day, but having been away for a few days due to illness I decided I was well enough to dig crystals!

We also saw some elk, but they were too far away for pictures. After scratching away at some pegmatites, Bob (digging partner) hit a promising seam. Small crystals started popping out of the ground, so I stopped prospecting and lent Bob a hand. Bob didn't need the help, but handed me one of his scratching tools as he knows it's almost as much fun seeing the crystals come out of the ground as digging them for yourself. We got over 50 smokys out of the ground and a number of small plates with smokys and microcline. There was nothing exceptional about this pocket, but a day in the mountains digging crystals beats just about anything else I know. I've attached a few pictures of the diggings. Everything is pretty much fresh out of the ground.

Iron infused dirt/clay with crystal definition showing in pocket

Small plate with smokys and microcline evident on piece of pegmatite

Interesting grouping of microcline

Fairly shallow pocket about 1.5 feet to bottom finished