We joined the Silver City "Rolling Stones" rockhounding club this morning, and immediately went on this first adventure to an area on the western side of the Burro Mountains, near the Arizona border.
After driving many miles on some dusty and evntually high clearance only backroads, we arrive at Round Mountain and were amazed at the number of crystalline rocks everywhere! yes, just all over the ground!
I think Kim was in "rock heaven" babbling and shouting "Look, look at this one!" and on and on she went. It didn't take long to realize that we had to be more selective in our choices, since the first bag filled up very quickly.
It takes a while to get that "selective eye" developed, because everywhere you walk and everywhere you turn are nice looking hunks of the "chalcedony" this particular form of crystals here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcedony
I carried my rockhound's hammer for a while, but realized it really wasn't need, since most stuff was just laying right on top of the volcanic soils.
Looking through our finds after getting home, I realize we had a nice sampling of the different forms the land had to offer, including one fist-sized geode that I can't wait to cut open.
Sorting through some larger chunks, 3-6 inches across, we'll have some nice "whatnots" to add to our already growing collection here at Gila Lodge!
