December 13, 2008 – Digging for Crystals

Today we went with our neighbors, Rob and Doug, to the Arrowhead Crystal Mine to dig for crystals. It is located near Mount Ida which is the Quartz Capital of the World. The mine is a working mine where they look for crystal clusters then dig out and dump the dirt. We were allowed to dig in the dirt - :-)!

Here is where the workers dig for the crystals:

Here is the mine – we were digging in the pile behind the pit:

Andy digging away (in the red plaid):

Me searching thru the dirt:

What did we find? Some beautiful quartz crystals – some clear, some milky, some white. It is amazing to see what nature produced. When I get them cleaned up, I will post some pictures.

One of the neat things is that when the sun came out, the dirt just sparkled - WOW! But it is really hard work because the soil is like red clay. We are aching tonight.

We had dinner at one of the local restaurants – Fisherman’s Cove – great steaks. No campfire tonight – very windy.