Rock hounding
My interest in rocks started with fossil finds while hunting crayfish.
I grew up in a sedimentary/glaciated area, on the shores of Lake Erie.
Fossils were fairly common in the creeks and streams around our house.
Then one Christmas, I received a rock tumbling kit. With it came a bag
of the most exotics rocks I'd seen. Real rock hounds would probably not
get much thrill from common agates, but I thought they were the coolest
rocks I'd seen. I tumbled them all, and made jewelry for my Mom and
some other relatives.
Once the rocks ran out, replacements were not to be found in our neck
of the woods. The tumbler fell into disuse...
After moving west, (New Mexico, then California), I started picking up
neat rocks whenever I saw them. I looked at the hills and mountains,
and longed to go traipsing through them. But, I was warned when I first
moved west that folks here are not as tolerant of trespassers, so I
waited to find locals with the knowledge and inclination to show me
around...
On Sept 17, 2005, I finally got to go on a real rock hounding
expedition, thanks to Thomas Hess and the Die Hard Rock Hounds. We all
went to the Felix Mine Area to hunt Fluorite,
probably for the last time. The area is being developed into a housing
project, and access will soon be denied. Thomas rode with me, since my
Subaru get better mileage than his truck. On the way home, we stopped
to check out a new location. Until Thomas wants the exact location
released, we'll call it location 1. We found
many interesting crystals, as well as some hard agate looking rocks.
Sorry for the lack of specific names, but I'm just getting started :)