Crystals amidst the wildflowers at Lake George, Colorado

Getting ready to do some prospecting amongst the Penstemon

My digging partner Bob and I have been digging the side of one hill on and off for almost 2 years.  Between our digs and the ones preceding our efforts it’s getting harder to know where to dig. This spring’s rains have helped some by revealing a few potential spots by eroding the top soil. Rains have been tremendous in enhancing wildflower growth as well as nourishing the local aspen and buckberry bushes.   

Colorado state flower the Columbine

This day I finished up a spot I had dug on a previous visit by double checking the bottom of the pocket.  There was just a slight crease of clay I had missed at the bottom of the pocket so I went to work extricated the mud and quartz wedged down in the crevice.  I was rewarded with a couple smoky crystals and satisfied myself that this dig was done.  As I scanned the hill for an undug area I noted a spot devoid of vegetation and old digs.  I carefully scanned the surface and very quickly spotted a complete smoky quartz crystal.  The crystal wasn’t large, but the termination was intact.  A solid crystal termination suggests to me that it’s source and potential crystal pocket can’t be far up the hill. 

Pocket opening up with crystals spilling out

I continued to slowly work up the hill digging deeper as I went.  Quartz crystals continued to tumble out of the dirt as I watched the black dirt become yellowish with clay.  Finally I decided it was safe to have Bob come over and take a look.  We both thought this could be a significant find.  As Bob watched more crystals tumbled out of the yellow dirt and pieces of pegmatite with microcline began to emerge.  Unfortunately no amazonite.  I didn’t really expect amazonite as there were no amazonite shards in any of the scoopfuls of dirt I had extricated. I was hoping for some nice plates with microcline and quartz but none were found.  The largest quartz crystal I found was about 3” in length and the microcline plates were fairly ordinary. There was one microcline plate that has a central double terminated crystal and is crowned by two Carlsbad twinned crystals at the top (see pic below).  A keeper for sure. I finished this spot though was somewhat disappointed there wasn't more. I dug up the hill a bit to see if there wasn't something else above me, but no quartz shards suggests nothing nearby. So I determined I was done with this dig. At least I know there are still some hidden crystals on our hill.

Central DT microcline (somewhat unusual)

Ah yes and summer has arrived.  The forecast was for a high of 74F and when we left the sun was scorching us, the flies were biting as Bob's Taco thermometer read 83F when we left.  We wonder where we should go next.  Our hill is pretty much dug up and has become increasingly difficult to prospect. I would never say we got them all (crystals) but finding them has become increasingly difficult. The surface has been pretty well churned up. As summer progresses I think we are both ready to find a place to dig in the shade :-)

Pocket contents.  A fairly small pocket about the size of a soccer ball... but fun