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| Rock Hunting & Rock Collecting in Colorado, Nebraska, So Dakota |
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2003
The year 2003 was OK for collecting, but not great for me. However, it was "the year of the topaz". Many wonderful topaz crystals were recovered from the digs in the Pikes Peak granite. Many of those were from the Tarryall Mts. area. There were some good finds at Crystal Peak as well, including some nice fluorite finds.
Production was reasonably good at Mt. Antero, although nothing was found that I saw that I would rate as "spectacular", excepting some great sherry topaz from Steve Bronccato's claims. All of the best crystals were purchased by Bryan Lees of Collector's Edge. There is a picture of one of the finest topazes found you can view at his website.
I spent a lot of time looking for gem peridot near Badger Creek. It's remote and one of my favorite areas to collect. Some days you can be out there and barely see a soul. I will say that the finds have basically tapered off though, and not too many larger stones were found this year. Quantity seems to have dropped off a lot too, as more people hunt out there before nature can wash out more new material.
The most fun I had this year was exploring a new find of fluorescent blue agate that I had seen before, but never had hunted. I had been buying some from the original finder at local shows. Because it's very rare and occurs only in a small area, this locality must remain unnamed. Pieces are mostly small, 1 to 2 inches or less, and small portion of the agate has a bluish cast. The really finest blue pieces are even more rare. The color is gorgeous however. (see picture on previous page)
I also attended the Crawford Rock Swap in Crawford, NE again. This outdoor show held in city park is the premier show for Fairburn agate collector's. There were many fine specimens on display by participants, and considerable buying, selling, and trading. Unfortunately, a storm settled in a deluged the place over the weekend, resulting in limited time to shop and look. This was no ordinary storm, but one which settled in and made itself at home, and at times it literally poured. I was stuck under one camper awning for 2 solid hours one day it rained so hard. The only good thing about it was the release of new agates from the Chadron Formation gravel beds. We hunted several of my favorite grassland pastures north of town, and one of them, 30N, produced one fine pink and pale yellowish agate about 2" across. This is one of the finest I've had the good fortune to collect. In addition, we found several more lesser pieces. Jack Crandall, an artifact collector from Denver who was with me, found several worked pieces of jasper in the agate beds that only someone with that type of experience would notice.
2004
This year was a strange one weather-wise. Cooler than usual, and much more moisture than what we'd grown accustomed to around here. That's good though, as the soils, plants, and aquifers were pretty parched after several years of sparse rainfall.
In fact, because of heavy summer rains, I did not venture up Mt. Antero this year, nor to Crystal Peak. There was a lot of politics and squabbling up there this year amongst the claimholders, which is indeed unfortunate. Finds were nominal on Antero, although I did hear rumor of a large find up there of a large pocket of smoky quartz plates and rare minerals. I have not been able to verify this story for certain.
The rains at Crystal Peak were so severe in late June and early July that it washed out numerous trails into the claim areas. Of course the forest fire of several years ago doesn't help at a time like this, it only makes matters worse. Unfortunately our claims are quite a ways in and were basically inaccessible for many weeks. A good friend of mine almost rolled his truck there in a washout spot.
I did make several trips into the peridot area again, but with only fair results. By far most of my trips centered on the blue agate area. The rains helped wash out a new supply. Again the pieces are mostly small, but a few are super color. Because of the color shade, I have decided to call it "columbine blue agate" or "Colorado columbine blue agate". A lady from Omaha that I know compared it to Ellensburg (Washington) blue agate, and the particular piece she had was nearly identical. I am hoping to collect enough to put a display case in at next years Denver show, as the theme will be agate.
Sunday afternoons were perfect for visiting the old Sweethome Mine dump at Alma, where collectors would often pick up interesting and attractive pieces that are mined there from digging in the dump. No one (mine personnel) was usually around on Sundays, and they didn't seem to mind that much if you collected then, especially if they knew you. Alas, this was probably the last year for that, as the old mine shut down officially in October of 2004, after approx. 12 years of operation. New government red tape and expensive- to- comply- with regulations, along with diminishing returns forced this decision by the owner Bryan Lees. Chances are the world's most famous rhodochrosite producing mine will never operate again, at least not in our lifetimes. Perhaps it could happen when and if new mining technologies are developed, along with a more favorable government attitudes toward mining, but I don't foresee that in the near future. Specimens from here have never been cheap (mining is a very expensive endeavor), but they can't help but go up from here with this news. Meanwhile, Bryan has a stockpile of material that will last a few years.
The Alma/Fairplay district is also famous for placer gold, and I joined in the hunt this year, but not too seriously I'll admit. I did try my hand at panning, sluicing, and metal detecting up there, with pretty limited results. But it was mostly for fun. Finding a public or non-posted area to work can be something of a problem for one thing, plus I'm still learning the ropes.
The treat for the year was visiting the dumps of an old established turquoise mine south of here. I know a collector who just happens to have written permission to hunt there, and he's about the only person who does. He was gracious enough to include me on one trip. If timing is perfect, you're there right after or during a rain. That makes the blue and green turquoise pieces in the dump stand out like sore thumbs. Otherwise, when it's dry it's quite hard to really see what are mostly tiny to smallish pieces in the gray and brown dumps. I was able to buy and trade for some larger pieces too, so was thrilled with that opportunity, as this material has not been available for years on the open market.
The Crawford show again this year fought the rain storms. Because of scheduling requirements, I chose to hunt the pastures with Wayne Shortridge before the show opened when everything was still dry. Wouldn't you know, they hadn't had any appreciable rain all summer, and then when the show opened it poured starting late Friday night. Collecting was rather poor this year, but the great thing was some folks we met showed us some new pastures that were open that I had not realized before, including one private ranch. I did find a few small agates, but nothing great. With the advent of Roger's books about Fairburns, competition for good agates has become fierce, and has driven up prices, as well as making finding them in the field more difficult. One lady from Nebraska told us that a few weeks back one group of over 30 rockhounds had descended into pasture 27N, always one of my favorites. This sort of over-collecting has made new finds very tough to come by. Fairburns have always been rare, and there is less to go around the more collectors are involved in collecting. But because prices have also risen, it has also made people more willing to endure the backaches, leg aches, sunburn, and wind out there.
Interestingly enough, some of the agate areas in South Dakota received abundant rain during the course mid to late summer. This made agate collecting much more interesting there than in Nebraska, although again there is a lot of competition. Some nice finds were made, and some were on display at the show. Marcia Hult and her husband Harlan, of northeastern Nebraska, found a beautiful agate at the Wasta, SD gravel pit, although I don't know that it was this year, it perhaps was a few years back. She was showing it off at Crawford and indeed it's a fine agate. It has been dubbed the "Wasta Queen", and has since been acquired by Wayne Shortridge of Ft. Collins, CO. She also showed me several other fine agates she had found over the past year at the grasslands. Roger Clark showed off his excellent large pink and red agate found near Tepee Canyon in the fire burn area.
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| Buena Vista Gem Works P.O Box 476, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211 719-395-4327 respomer@buenavistagemworks.com |
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Last Modified March 2004 All scanned photographs shown here are for your viewing enjoyment only. |