“Ridin’ the Pain Train” or an Over-hyped
Tornado and Ne’er-do-wells (Ep 1)
Well we start the season with one calamity after the next. While
not excusing claim-jumping or high-grading the TV personalities somewhat invite
trouble by being on TV and over-hyping their finds. Prospecting has always been
secretive. The destruction of Busse’s and Hall’s equipment was despicable and
there is no reason for it. It was nice to see the Busse’s find nice colored
aquamarine crystals. The fact that someone moved the claim marker on Dwayne Hall’s
claim suggests to me he has a disagreement with a fellow claim holder who
believes Hall may have over-staked his site, though tampering with claim markers
is a federal crime. I think Joe Dorris has a lot of interest in his topaz claim
by ne’er-do-wells too. Joe’s claim sits along a well-traveled county road and
is easily accessible. He told me one day he expects to find a crushed body or
two on his claim due to high-graders digging under the unstable granite
boulders. The Dorris’ did find some nicely terminated topaz. The narrator spoke
of Joe’s topaz claim as being near Lake George, while in reality it is in the
Tarryall Mtns near the town of Tarryall. Amanda and Travis got turned away from
Mt Antero but did find some crystals elsewhere. I noted the couple was talking
about the dangers of the mountain road while driving without seatbelts. If the
truck rolls they will be flung from the cab and crushed. Not sure their
crystals were worth hundreds of dollars either. High priced smoky crystals must
be gemmy and lustrous with undamaged/sharp points. With gemmy being the inside
and lustrous the exterior. Amanda’s crystals did not appear to have a good
luster.
The whole tornado event was quite over-hyped, but most of the
show is make believe anyway. The facts of when the tornado hit and where were
modified for the show. The trees the tornado (F-0), took down were mostly dead
or extremely weakened from the Hayman fire and subsequent drought. The actual
tornado damaged a couple of house trailers in Lake George and took down a
number of trees. As a meteorologist by trade I checked out the path of the
storm and coordinated my analysis with the National Weather Service Pueblo
Office. The track of the tornado was about 2 miles through Lake George and into
the National Forest. The storm occurred on Sunday at 12:30 PM. The Prospector’s
show talked about that storm threatening Amanda and Travis during the following
night--didn’t happen. There may have been a storm that threatened the duo, but
it was not the storm that produced the tornado. I mentioned to Joe that the
storm knocked a few trees down near his Klondike Cowboy claim (he had no idea),
the tornado was nowhere near his Ute claim where the track hoe was parked… of
course without stretching the facts a bit there would be no viewer interest.
So we start the season with ne’er-do-wells, an over-hyped
tornado and ridiculously overpriced crystals. I think I’ve seen this show
before… maybe several times before.
“Poppin Rocks” or Nothing New Under
the Sun (Episode 2)
I liked the title of the show. While I’ve been prospecting
for 5 years I’ve never seen this popping rock phenomena, but it is believable.
It’s always nice when they mix a bit of science into the show. The point Dorris
made about Jack Buckner had some historical interest for me as well. Dwayne Hall
and his pocket of smoky quartz crystals reminded me of some of the junk I’ve
found this fall. I thought it was odd Hall was following aquamarine fragments
and he was sure there was a pocket of aquas behind the boulders. Once Dwayne found some smoky quartz his whole theory was forgotten and not another mention
was made of aquamarine. I would say he was working in an extremely dangerous,
borderline crazy excavation considering how unstable the mountainside is. At least he was the one taking all the risks
as the newbs looked on. He found one ugly smoky quartz specimen and recognized
it as such. I think hog turd would have been an apt description for that rock.
Nobody will give them the quoted $400-$500 for the junk they found unless they’ve
been out in the sun too long. Perhaps next episode will show Hall pulling out aquamarine, there must be a pocket there somewhere due to all the nearby float he was finding
Cardwells have 16 claims, wow! I guess he’s the Joe Dorris
of Mt Antero. Even though Cardwell’s ancestor originally put the road in, it is
not a private road. While I wouldn’t object to the work he did on the road, I’m
not sure what the Forest Service would say. I would say he did very well indeed
to have taken that track hoe up the mountain in 1 day… now he has to find some
crystals, I guess stay tuned for that. Narrator kept mentioning Fretterd’s
secret Agnus Dei claim. Anybody who wants to locate Fretterd’s claim can do so
by doing a little research. I won’t give it away, but the claim is in his
girlfriend’s name. The mere fact that it is a claim means you can look it up.
The Agnus Dei has about 8 claims filed all around it by a guy from Denver.
Thanks to the show a large area of Cameron’s Cone is now claimed and off limits
for others. Oops I’ve already given too much away. Rich does find good stuff on
the Agnus Dei. I really liked the smoky plates.
Aquamarine – Plenty of it! (Episode 3)
I have been somewhat disappointed by the exploits of the
prospectors in previous episodes on Mt Antero/Mt White, but finally some
aquamarine. Claim jumpers from the previous winter were highlighted on Amanda’s
claim, but they didn’t get it all. I would guess the claim-jumpers on Amanda’s
aqua pocket were the same ones that hit Busse’s stowed gear featured in episode
2. Unfortunately I doubt they will get any help from the county police. If
Travis and Amanda did intercept claim jumpers they would not use their weapons
except in self-defense as they would be on the wrong side of the law if they
shot somebody stealing from their claim. I really don’t understand their lack
of safety gear. I’ve never gone rock hounding without a pair of gloves. I
usually wear mechanics gloves or cheap throw-aways. As you could see from
Amanda’s hands the quartz was shredding her up pretty good. I often take a hard
hat and safety glasses as well if the site requires it. I noted Dwayne Hall
using a chisel and hammer pounding away on granite without protective eyewear. I
guess if he’s gotten away with doing things that way for 30+ years he probably
wouldn’t change. Dwayne’s featured aquamarine was a beauty, but not sure it’s a museum
specimen. Loved the aquamarines being pulled out by Amanda as well, but didn’t
note any real good terminations on any of the crystals, still a lot of gemmy “cutters”
with jewelry value.
The whole episode with the truck going down-hill is not
that unusual. The part where Busse came across an SUV off the road seemed
somewhat staged. I suppose some people who drive 4-wheel vehicles don’t know
how to use them (recommend lowest gear duh). I met one person stuck on a
4-wheel road who didn’t know how to put his vehicle in 4-wheel drive (this has
happened more than once). Recommend anyone driving up Antero get 4-wheel
driving experience first… better yet drive an ATV up--much easier. I’ve driven
up a couple times, and always found the first 4 miles through rocks harder than
the road above tree line.
Joe Dorris
usually wins the day, but not this time. Don’t believe hooded/scepter quartz
with amazonite is a big deal nor the sepulcher smoky. I think some hype here as
well. If the Icon pocket were put together and cleaned it might end up in a museum, but I guess donors need to see the finished product before ponying up $1M.
Two thumbs up for the aquamarine found on this episode.
