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Post by connrock on Sept 27, 2004 18:56:30 GMT -5
I finally got around to downloading some of the pic's of the VT collecting site we went to. The collecting site is just about 2-3 miles north of Manchester. This is State Rt 7 looking north from the collecting site.  The site can easily seen from the road.  This is the entrance to the area that holds the pockets.  Yours truely crawling in to take a peek!!  After over 2 hrs of digging,chiseling and prying almost 5 feet from the main wall to the dark area you can see at about 8 o'clock in the photo,,,,I gave up and crawled back outside!!  I joined my wife Nancy collecting shards for tumbling.  Some of the pretty wild flowers growing along the highway.  Shards we collected.  One of the bigger shards. (broken quarts crystal).  A very clear shard.  A few of the bigger pieces.Note the clear piece in front of the Bic lighter.  The photo is a little blurry but I think you get the picture!!  This is the total of what we brought home.  And that's that folks. I hope you enjoy it!! Tom  |
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Post by rockyraccoon on Sept 27, 2004 19:41:07 GMT -5
tom i would love to be so lucky as to pick up shards like that!
kim
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Post by krazydiamond on Sept 27, 2004 19:49:51 GMT -5
great rocks, (nice butt, tom)...haha.
no way would i crawl in a hole like that tho, too many creepy crawlies and the fear of it all collapsing on me....unh, uhn, no way.
nice haul, you gonna tumble those or.........?
KD
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bwalters
has rocks in the head
Member since March 2004
Posts: 557
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Post by bwalters on Sept 27, 2004 21:02:29 GMT -5
What a haul, Tom! Gorgeous stuff, but I agree with KD. I would have a hard time crawling down into the darkness with the creepy crawly things! Unless I was looking for rocks, of course!
Oh yeah, and nice butt, Tom!
BE
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Sept 27, 2004 21:12:58 GMT -5
WOW Tom, those are nice! I would say definitely worth crawling around in a hole in the ground!  I wouldn't like to be the one crawling around down there though. Not afraid of creepy crawlies, but not my favorite thing and the thought of being in such a small space UNDERGROUND just gives me the creeps! Much rather be on the above ground side looking at the scenery and picking up rocks. Sure is pretty up there in your part of the world! You gonna tumble those? BTW, where's the pic of the wife's new ring? I thought for sure you would post a pic of it. You best get with it and show us!! llana |
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Post by cookie3rocks on Sept 27, 2004 21:53:13 GMT -5
NO FEAR! Or, as we say in the south, AINT SKEERT! I would be in that hole in a minute, where's my flashlight? YEE HAW! Creepy crawlers be dammed! It would be so worth it to get a haul like that. About your butt, your wife is a lucky lady I'm just drooling, over the quartz, that is ;D cookie |
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Post by creativeminded on Sept 28, 2004 8:51:01 GMT -5
Looks like you all had a lot of fun, and now you are going to have even more fun tumbling your finds.
Tami
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Post by Cher on Sept 28, 2004 11:05:36 GMT -5
Neat pics Tom. I am very glad I don't have to crawl into caves to collect quartz, I'd never get any if that was the case. Cookie, wish you lived closer, it would be nice to have a fearless friend along rock hunting. ;D I'd bring the flashlite. hehehehe
Cher
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Post by sandsman1 on Sept 28, 2004 13:14:40 GMT -5
hey tom you gotta go back and blast hahaha that will put some fresh pieces on the ground,, i dont know about that crawling into a hole hahaha might be a bear in there hahaha nice haul man
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Post by connrock on Sept 28, 2004 17:02:16 GMT -5
This is the 2nd time i've gone "under ground" to collect rocks and minerals. The 1st time was down in NC collecting some huge garnets. We had a rockhound get-to-gether this past June and about 40 hounds showed up. The plan was to trade our "wares",eat,go collecting,eat,more collecting and of course ,,,,,eat!! The first collecting trip we had disgused was a garnet mine about 2 hrs away.I was all excited until we got there and saw that we were going into a "real mine"!! The other hounds had been there before and had miners lights and the rest of the gear needed for the 'trek"!!I borrowed one from one of the guys and VERY reluctently went in.There was water seeping every where and it was tough for me to see where I was going to slide and fall!! LOL The farther we went the more eery it got.Echos,moans,screams of people falling and sliding,,,WOW,,,What the hell did I get myself into??? (for the guys eyes only),,,,, (If there wern't women going in bthere I would have gone back to the truck) OK ladies you can open your eyes now and read on!! I teamed up with a young and very strong woman from MO as she seemed to know what she was doing.,,,,and I "thought" I could keep up with her!! LOL Any way,,,,I lived through it so going into that small hole in the ground in VT last week was cake for me,,,,, I'm glad some of you like my butt!! I'll try to put a little more "m,,,ass" on it for the next trip photo's!! Tom |
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Sept 29, 2004 4:39:26 GMT -5
Tom, Nice stuff you got there! They're huge! Did you find any whole crystals? Not sure if you have tumbled any before, but the golden stuff on the surface may very well be iron deposits. If it is...and it doesn't wash off, give it a soak in Oxalic Acid for a few days. It'll be worth it and they'll be as pretty as can be! I thought tumbling would remove the deposits, unfortunately, most of the impressions held the rusty color.  My next batch is ready to go after a 3 day acid bath, overnight soak in baking soda and a good rinse. Beautiful area...spooky cave....wouldn't go down there if you paid me! Brave soul you are! |
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Post by connrock on Sept 29, 2004 19:45:34 GMT -5
Hi Emerald,,, Thanks for the advise on the oxalic acid. I ran out of it but have some Super Iron Out.I desolved some of it in hot water and threw it in an old crock pot my wife donated to the cause. It's not as good as the oxalic for heavy iron like these XL's have but it will do for now. I didn't find one single whole XL !!But there's always next year!! Tom K |
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Emerald
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2004
Posts: 417
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Post by Emerald on Sept 29, 2004 20:10:18 GMT -5
Ahhh cool!
I haven't tried a crock pot....just spray painted a plastic container/lid black, drilled a few vent holes and put the quartz in the acid solution to warm in the sun. It took me about 4 days to get rid of the most stubborn stuff.
*sighs* I think my hubby tossed my crock pot. I had a small one too that would have been the perfect size for the quartz!
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Sept 30, 2004 10:26:40 GMT -5
Hello Tom,
Crawling into caves has always been one of my favorite past time activities. I used to live in Colorado, and we were always going into the old gold/silver mines.
We got the crap scared out of us one time ... there is a small cave entrance just outside of Idaho Springs, Colorado (BIG gold mining area of the state). You have to swim across the Clear Creek Canyon river to get there. We swam across and got our equipment across and then headed in. We were only in about 20 feet and we heard the ever so chilling wowl of a mountain lion ...
I honestly can not remember how I got across the 40' river and back to the truck before anyone else ... but I was GONE!
You know what they say ... you do not have to be the fastest person in the group ... you just have to be faster than the guy next to you ;D
Thanks for the photo's ... you do have some gorgeous country up that way.
Take care,
John
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Post by connrock on Sept 30, 2004 20:32:51 GMT -5
Hi John, I am by no means a "caveman"!! The hole I crawled into in VT wasn't bad at all because I could always see the daylight peering in behind me. The mine in NC was something else!!If you turned your light off there was TOTAL darkness and I really didn't care for that. Don't know if you read about the NC experience but I hooked up with a strong,young lady.I figured if I got stuck in there she could keep me warm until we got rescued!! LOL I thought there was going to be a cave in once but,,,,,,No luck!! LOL Tom |
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Sept 30, 2004 23:33:04 GMT -5
Hello Tom,
I have been in a lot of the big caves in the USA and many a small ones.
I used to be a night maintenance supervisor at a rock quarry just out of Idaho Springs, Colorado. When our shift was over (generally between 2am and 5am) we would head out to some of the area mines. We had our mine lights (that fit on your hard hat) and our hand were free for looking or digging. We also used an oxygen tester to be certain that we were not getting into a methane pocket.
I know what you mean about shutting off the lights ... only then do you realize that you literally can not see your own hand in front of your face. I used to like to shut off the lights and just listen to total silence. Like most people the ringing in my ears were ever present, but it was a nice feeling.
Take care,
John
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I wouldn't like to be the one crawling around down there though. Not afraid of creepy crawlies, but not my favorite thing and the thought of being in such a small space UNDERGROUND just gives me the creeps! Much rather be on the above ground side looking at the scenery and picking up rocks. Sure is pretty up there in your part of the world!
My next batch is ready to go after a 3 day acid bath, overnight soak in baking soda and a good rinse. 
