Fieldtrip Report:
Fieldtrip Report:
Second
Annual Southeast U.S.
Labor Day Gem Jam!
August 29th-September 1st, 2008
August 29th, Diamond Hill
Report and Photos by Lee Fleming
2008 Diamond Hill Portion of the MAGMA Jem Jam
This segment of the end of the summer outing began on the evening of June 28, 2008 with a small group of rockhounds beginning to gather in the Parking lot of Diamond Hill. Those who made it that first evening were excited about the chance to dig for 4 straight days at a different mine each day. By sun down, the sign-in station was setup, camps were ready for the evening, and we all went to bed.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of Pat yelling Lee get up, there are people arriving to dig. Sure enough, by the time I got to the sign-in station, {at had already collected the entry fee and the signed forms and people had begun to park and get ready to enter them mine. After a quick walk around, we found that the site was no too muddy and the pits were about half full of rainwater. The spoil piles were all clean which allowed digging along their edges and at the amethyst sections of the mine. New people who had not been at the mine before, or those who had not been there in a while would ask questions about the best places to dig and those under the tent would help them out as much as possible. Soon the site was buzzing with people looking for the rocks of Diamond Hill.
All morning, people would come walking by our station carrying smaller rocks or very big ones on their way to their vehicle. It was great to see that people were finding new specimens from the spoil piles that has already been searched several times.
Around noon, I noticed that Pat was really excited. Apparently John D had found a very nice amethyst specimen and he had turned it over to Pat for her picking the mud out of the crevices.
This is a chore that Pat does willingly and she set about cleaning the rock for John. Later in the afternoon, Sue also brought up a nice cluster of amethyst crystals and Pat took on the task of cleaning it also.
As the day went by, many of our club members came by and said help to those of us under the canopy. It was great to see everybody and enjoy the great day out side.
Finally, to keep in the spirit of our past field trip reports, Nick went our and found some wildlife to show in this report. He returned to the checking station with a little lizard to show us all. We really had fun with this little critter.
I apologize for this report being so short and having so few pictures; but I was not feeling well during the trip and did not get out as much as I normally do. Also, I want to express my deepest gratitude for all of the help I had on the outing. Just so you all who were concerned about me when I left, I made it home OK and I was ready to go.
