Field Trip Report:
Buck Creek,
Clay County, N.C.
June 29th-July 4th, 2005Photos by: Jim Ellis, Lee Fleming, Pat Cummings and Rick Jacquot
What a week it was at Buck Creek! Six days of camping, corundum hunting, and friendship in Western North Carolina. I started out Wednesday for Buck Creek to secure the group a large size location for our club. I found a suitable spot, large enough for 20 tents and campers (which we had) but we still needed more space. Ernie and Bob, two of our newer members took the site across from the Big Shaft Mine and Dave Hillhouse and another group of members camped at the Deep Gap location, plus numerous members who stayed in hotels in town.
I wanted to make sure the group could find us so I mounted this sign on the side of my camper.
Actually it was part of a major overhaul I have been doing, reinforced bottom stainless steel etc.
I was all by myself Wednesday afternoon so I went to hunt some small almandine garnets.
Almandine garnet fragments from the Buck Creek area.
As it turned out, I would not be alone Wednesday night. That evening Jim Ellis arrived and told me that Ernie and Bob were camped down the road across from the Big Shaft mine, later Annie arrived.
First there was a tent.
Then there were two tents...
By Thursday morning the camp area began to fill up.
Chris, Jim and Pat ready to rock.
More members arrived as we planned for Thursdays events.
