My digging partner Bob and I
returned to an area we had not dug in 4 or 5 years. I was a bit surprised at how quickly nature
had reclaimed our old digs. We
normally don’t dig more than 2-3 feet down and then collapse the walls around
the dig when finished, it was much more difficult to find the old spots than I would have guessed.
Many old burned out trees had also fallen down since we had last been there
also better disguising the terrain. I searched for an old favorite area for a
while but finally gave up and decided I better just go ahead and do some
prospecting. I figured I was close to
the area and put my nose to the ground looking for quartz. I found a few pieces of white quartz on the
surface of the ground which heightened my prospecting senses and I started looking
real closely at the ground. Within a few
minutes I was rewarded with a very gemmy double terminated 3” smoky quartz
crystal. I began digging up the hill with my pick axe hoping for more and I was
rewarded with chunks of pegmatite that suggested something better up the hill.
|
3" Exceptionally gemmy crystal |
I reached the source of the pegmatite and began digging down through the soil
along the peg. I was about 1 foot down in
soil along the pegmatite when I began hitting scree mixed with quartz shards.
An area of greyish white clay got my attention as the quartz shards appeared to
be concentrated in this area. Soon the
quartz shards got bigger and I pulled out a few small quartz crystals. The quartz crystals were all small and had
broken off their host matrix. I found one fairly etched microcline and assumed
their must also be fluorite in the area as well. Volatile liquids in a miarolitic cavity will
often etch microcline if they contain fluorine prior to the liquids cooling and
fluorites forming. Sure enough a few minutes later I found a larger chunky
fluorite. I probably would have tossed
it as junk if I hadn’t noticed the etched microcline and kept my eye out for
possible fluorites. The fluorites I found were not well formed, etched and near
the top of the pegmatite (junk). Pocket #1. The
pegmatite was running across the hill in an east to west orientation. I worked
the pegmatite to the east as there was more quartz associated with the peg in
that direction. About 2 feet down along the pegmatite the scree began to turn a
more yellowish color and once again I hit a small pocket of crystals. After working about half an hour and not
finding much I decided to use my pick axe to take out some of the pegmatite. I
pulled down just one chunk of pegmatite and smoky quartz crystals tumbled out
from above the 2nd pocket of the day.
|
Pockets #1 and #2 with #1 rinsed off a bit |
Another fluorite came out near the surface and the pegmatite continued to run. I reasoned there was obviously another pocket in the pegmatite
so I carefully picked the peg apart with a bent screwdriver. Soon crystals were tumbling out of the topsoil and above the peg as the clay within the peg took on a
dark reddish color. Pocket #3! This
pegmatite seemed to be winding down and I could hear Bob’s pick axe clinking in
the distance but I couldn’t see him. We usually rockhound til 3PM or so, but
this day the thunderstorms had popped up early and the sky was beginning to
darken with a lot of lightning crackling to our southwest. I
called my digging partner on our radios and mentioned I would be packing up and
heading back to the truck due to the threatening weather. I had also used up a
lot of my drinking water cleaning up the fluorites I had
|
Pocket #3 (Biggest crystal at top is broken of course) |
found only to learn
they were pretty crappy. We met back at the truck about 20 minutes later just
as the skies began to open up. Bob showed me a 12” smoky he had found which put
my meager finds to shame but we both had a good time digging crystals before
Mother Nature shut us down.
Day 2 we went back to the aforementioned area and worked
Bob’s pocket. The pocket was very elongated and was about 3 feet down. The overlaying pegmatite was quite strong but
once through the quartz layer we hit shards of quartz crystals with an occasional
euhedral keeper and very intermittent amazonite. The quartz crystals had size
but may not be very gemmy.
|
Note amazonite cleaned a bit in lower right |
The amazonite crystals were of good color and it sure would have been nice to dig out a few more of those or some
combos but Bob and I always have a good time when we dig a pocket together. We
kept carefully digging out what appeared to be large smokies in the pocket only
to be fooled by 3 or 4 sided shards or blunted terminations. Bob did get a
couple 5” crystals so that alone made the dig worth it. The amazonite seemed
odd in that it was not in a pocket, but just seemed to have been occasionally
formed from the ceiling of the pocket.
There were a few well-formed amazonites, but no groupings. We finished up this pocket and suspect there
may be more pockets in the area but only time and some prospecting will tell
|
Looks done to me..... NEXT! |
A couple more pics of the crystals.
|
Looks like the butt of a big one! |
|
Well formed 5" Smoky Quartz |
|
This is an ugly fellow, I'd say close to a 13" smoky. I think much of the secondary quartz will flake off with some abrasive cleaning. Not a museum piece though :-( |
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hello! did you need permission to prospect this area? are any areas around pikes peak thatr are open to the public with no permission required?
ReplyDeletethanks!
-Jackson
I have the same question as -Jackson.
ReplyDeleteCan you give a guide to some of the locations you prospected at or at least information on whether a permit was needed.
I have the same question as Jackson and Jerid. I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and would like to ask for tips/advice on rockhounding. Would you mind bringing a visitor or two on one of your next trips? I am a helping hand and I come with decent equipment. Thank you.
ReplyDelete