Becoming rockhounds

Here's how we became rockhounds. It all started with the rockst that kept appearing in the Jeep. Rocks in the back compartment. Rocks rolling around on the floor. Rocks in the RV.  Rocks that Larry or I thought were pretty. We started wondering what we were finding. I suggested we try to find out and start looking harder for rocks. So we did.
Knowing little about rockhounding, we went to Crystal Park, near Dillon, Montana. It's a neat park where you are allowed to dig five days a year (if we recall correctly) for under $10 per day. Okay, it was 2008, you can't expect us to remember the details, can you? We acquired a bucket, a framed sieve that would fit into it, and a shovel. With the usual supply of food, water, sunscreen, puppy-do bags and so forth, we were off. Here's a photo of Larry digging and a photo of Daisy trying to help.



Digging for crystals





Daisy hunts for crystals (or squirrels)
















 Here's what we had found by the end of the day: stuff we think everyone else had discarded. Even so, we were hooked! And tired out - but what's better than a day spent outside? Can't think of anything right off.



Pretty pitiful take - newbie treasures



 



Couch Potato Daisy



Some crystals at Crystal Park just lay around on the ground, glittering. The ground is pitted where people have dug. Although the rules say not to dig under the trees, many people have, because that's where the larger crystals are hidden. Montana has a dry climate; the dirt is loose and can be sifted, leaving pebbles and crystals in your sieve. Now we want to go dig for crystals in Arkansas, another good place. We'll let you know how that turns out once we get there. More next time on how we developed some rockhounding skills.