Howdy all.
Had the pleasure of attending my first meeting with the Central Maryland Rock and Mineral Collectors Exchange. I have been a part of this Meet-Up group for several months now, but my work schedule prevented me from attending meetings. Now that I have an adjusted schedule, I got to go to one.
First off, we met at the Meet-Up Creator's house. He was very nice and accommodating. I was a bit late due to some serious traffic and the first trip to the location, but nobody seemed to mind. Wayne has a lovely home and the space was very warm and friendly.
When I first walked in, I noticed that there were about 6 people there. They had set up on Wayne's kitchen table and were discussing some mineral samples. One of the members had brought his daughter with him to get some help identifying local mineral samples for a school science project. All the members were very happy to help, and I bet she got a good grade on the report!
Everyone is encouraged to bring samples and specimens with them to show off and discuss. I brought a bag of samples from our trip to North Carolina, as well as my Blue Quartz from Barleywood Farms. Everyone took their time looking at many things and discussions blossomed.
Two more members showed up during the next hour and discussions lead to the upcoming trip to Utah. The group is heading out to some Rock hounding sites for a few days! I am jealous. I would like to go, but it is not in the cards.
After some lengthy discussions on trip details, samples, specimens, and such, a few members had to go. With a bit more space, Wayne was kind enough to bring out some special samples he had collected or acquired over the last three years. He has some amazing stuff and does some great lapidary work!
I was very happy to have met these people in person and greatly look forward to my next meeting in November!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Gold Prospectors Association of America - GPAA
Hello again!
October has been an interesting month so far. With a change in my work schedule, co-worker vacations, and a generally hectic life at home, I have not had as much time to truly enjoy collecting over the past few weeks. This doesn't mean I haven't been busy though!
Today's post is about the GPAA. The Gold Prospectors Association of America. It has been a few years since I first got involved with this group. Back in 2005, Stacy and I started watching the Outdoor Channel. The first show to catch our attention was Gold Fever, then Prospecting America. More recently, they have added Alaskan. These three shows sparked an interest in Gold Prospecting for me and Metal Detecting for Stacy.
We had just relocated our family from Maryland to Pennsylvania, so we were not too familiar with our local minerals and locations. I was excited about the prospect of getting out into the local streams and rivers and try panning. I was even excited to try my hand in the back yard. Ironically, this is where our shared hobby first manifested itself.
Stacy was wonderful and signed me up for the GPAA. I got the complete starter kit! A big gold pan, my guide, video, snuffer bottle, vial, stickers, hat, etc. What a wonderful gift!
In return, we got Stacy her first Metal Detector. It was a lower end model from the local shops, but it was a metal detector none the less! We set out on our first adventure! Right into the back yard!
I set up a nice panning station with some raw material, a water source (hose), a big metal wash basin to pan in, some little shovels, and some excitement! I started to pan through the dirt in my own back yard.
Stacy was working her way through the backyard slowly sweeping back and forth with the detector. She had gone no more than 5 feet when she was digging for a "hit".
A simple TV show had brought us closer together. By joining the GPAA, we were closer as a family as well. The entire family was out in the back yard digging in the dirt and trying to find "Treasure"!
Now, bear in mind, we found a BUNCH of treasure. Rusty nails, some old chain, a few coins (pennies mostly), and some old bullets. Yes, we had live ammo in our back yard.... As for my panning operation, I found a lot of heavy "Black Sand" in the soil. I was surprised and excited by this. Where there is black sand, you sometimes find gold!
I later learned that Johnstown PA, being the coal mining city and Steel Industry city that it is, has lots and lots of "heavies" in the soil. I mainly found slag and iron pellets used to fill in the driveway. Stacy cleaned up most of the metallic junk in the yard.
Real life had left us in what we begin to think of as a mineralogical wasteland.
A few years began to pass (as they do with four kids!) and we were unable to fully expand on that great start. We continued to watch Gold Fever, Prospecting America, and a few other shows about rocks and minerals, but we didn't have much time to act on them. The "Fever" just continued to grow inside of us.
A few weeks ago, I renewed my membership in the GPAA. Stacy and I have been looking forward to some more outings and trips to GPAA claims and mining sites. This organizations helps people learn the many aspects of gold prospecting and treasure hunting. It teaches respect for the outdoors and your surroundings. Many people think that prospectors and seekers are destructive people by nature (we do dig into the ground to find things sometimes), but the vast majority of us tend to leave our surroundings better off than we found it.
I have yet to go on an outing where I didn't remove at least one piece of garbage from the site I was on. I take out everything I bring in, and even take out more garbage than I made or brought in.
My passion for this hobby has always been there, but groups like the GPAA help me explore the wonderful world in a more responsible way. I hope you take the time to check them out, watch some of the shows (Tom Massie is a riot to watch), and explore your world. It is a truly fascinating place, but you have to stop and look around to see it!
October has been an interesting month so far. With a change in my work schedule, co-worker vacations, and a generally hectic life at home, I have not had as much time to truly enjoy collecting over the past few weeks. This doesn't mean I haven't been busy though!
Today's post is about the GPAA. The Gold Prospectors Association of America. It has been a few years since I first got involved with this group. Back in 2005, Stacy and I started watching the Outdoor Channel. The first show to catch our attention was Gold Fever, then Prospecting America. More recently, they have added Alaskan. These three shows sparked an interest in Gold Prospecting for me and Metal Detecting for Stacy.
We had just relocated our family from Maryland to Pennsylvania, so we were not too familiar with our local minerals and locations. I was excited about the prospect of getting out into the local streams and rivers and try panning. I was even excited to try my hand in the back yard. Ironically, this is where our shared hobby first manifested itself.
Stacy was wonderful and signed me up for the GPAA. I got the complete starter kit! A big gold pan, my guide, video, snuffer bottle, vial, stickers, hat, etc. What a wonderful gift!
In return, we got Stacy her first Metal Detector. It was a lower end model from the local shops, but it was a metal detector none the less! We set out on our first adventure! Right into the back yard!
I set up a nice panning station with some raw material, a water source (hose), a big metal wash basin to pan in, some little shovels, and some excitement! I started to pan through the dirt in my own back yard.
Stacy was working her way through the backyard slowly sweeping back and forth with the detector. She had gone no more than 5 feet when she was digging for a "hit".
A simple TV show had brought us closer together. By joining the GPAA, we were closer as a family as well. The entire family was out in the back yard digging in the dirt and trying to find "Treasure"!
Now, bear in mind, we found a BUNCH of treasure. Rusty nails, some old chain, a few coins (pennies mostly), and some old bullets. Yes, we had live ammo in our back yard.... As for my panning operation, I found a lot of heavy "Black Sand" in the soil. I was surprised and excited by this. Where there is black sand, you sometimes find gold!
I later learned that Johnstown PA, being the coal mining city and Steel Industry city that it is, has lots and lots of "heavies" in the soil. I mainly found slag and iron pellets used to fill in the driveway. Stacy cleaned up most of the metallic junk in the yard.
Real life had left us in what we begin to think of as a mineralogical wasteland.
A few years began to pass (as they do with four kids!) and we were unable to fully expand on that great start. We continued to watch Gold Fever, Prospecting America, and a few other shows about rocks and minerals, but we didn't have much time to act on them. The "Fever" just continued to grow inside of us.
A few weeks ago, I renewed my membership in the GPAA. Stacy and I have been looking forward to some more outings and trips to GPAA claims and mining sites. This organizations helps people learn the many aspects of gold prospecting and treasure hunting. It teaches respect for the outdoors and your surroundings. Many people think that prospectors and seekers are destructive people by nature (we do dig into the ground to find things sometimes), but the vast majority of us tend to leave our surroundings better off than we found it.
I have yet to go on an outing where I didn't remove at least one piece of garbage from the site I was on. I take out everything I bring in, and even take out more garbage than I made or brought in.
My passion for this hobby has always been there, but groups like the GPAA help me explore the wonderful world in a more responsible way. I hope you take the time to check them out, watch some of the shows (Tom Massie is a riot to watch), and explore your world. It is a truly fascinating place, but you have to stop and look around to see it!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
October 2010
Howdy All!
It has been a few weeks since my last post. Don't think it was because I haven't been busy though! Life and my Rock Hounding have kept me away from posting for a bit.
Stacy and I continue to explore our new passion. She and I had the opportunity to go out into the "Field" together a few days ago. It is interesting to see how different our perspectives are. She would pass over some things that caught my eye, and I did exactly the same to her specimens!
We chose a local spot (we only had a few hours) to explore together. To be fair, we went to lunch then I decided to show her a local favorite. There is a steep mountain road on the outskirts of Johnstown that has an interesting water run-off that cuts into a hillside.
The majority of specimens are of course Sandstone and Coal, but we also found some conglomerate and siltstone. Digging and picking through the trench, we each pulled out different things that we liked. Some of the sandstone was very fine quartz moving up to rather rough quartz sand. All of the stones have iron stains and even magnetite banding in them. Some of the finer samples have amazing wave formations in them from the previous river/stream/lake action as they were originally laid down.
My most impressive find was another "Pennsylvania" geode. This sample was about the size of a potato. Made of finely grained sandstone, the center once contained another material that rusted/eroded out. It has an opening about the size of a silver dollar and was filled with silt from the run-off. After washing it out, I now have a hollow Sandstone sitting in the kitchen! (Pics Soon!)
One of the other things I have been doing for the past two weeks was working on the tumbler we bout. We bought a double drum tumbler capable of 6 lbs. It is very convenient to have two drums as I have been trying different samples at one time. I have successfully tumbled our specimens from Gem Mountain as well as the first two stages of the Barleywood Farms Blue Quartz. I must say I really like that quartz!
We purchased the tumbler from Harbor Freight Tools. They carry rotary tumblers, grit packages, and even Vibratory Tumblers (we got a 5 lb Vibratory Tumbler as well). It was put to immediate use and the learning curve is pretty easy. It took the cats a few days to get used to it, but they no longer pay it any attention.
I renewed my membership in the GPAA (I will post separately about this), and have been working on research into future trips. I will keep everyone posted on the amazing fun we are having!
It has been a few weeks since my last post. Don't think it was because I haven't been busy though! Life and my Rock Hounding have kept me away from posting for a bit.
Stacy and I continue to explore our new passion. She and I had the opportunity to go out into the "Field" together a few days ago. It is interesting to see how different our perspectives are. She would pass over some things that caught my eye, and I did exactly the same to her specimens!
We chose a local spot (we only had a few hours) to explore together. To be fair, we went to lunch then I decided to show her a local favorite. There is a steep mountain road on the outskirts of Johnstown that has an interesting water run-off that cuts into a hillside.
The majority of specimens are of course Sandstone and Coal, but we also found some conglomerate and siltstone. Digging and picking through the trench, we each pulled out different things that we liked. Some of the sandstone was very fine quartz moving up to rather rough quartz sand. All of the stones have iron stains and even magnetite banding in them. Some of the finer samples have amazing wave formations in them from the previous river/stream/lake action as they were originally laid down.
My most impressive find was another "Pennsylvania" geode. This sample was about the size of a potato. Made of finely grained sandstone, the center once contained another material that rusted/eroded out. It has an opening about the size of a silver dollar and was filled with silt from the run-off. After washing it out, I now have a hollow Sandstone sitting in the kitchen! (Pics Soon!)
One of the other things I have been doing for the past two weeks was working on the tumbler we bout. We bought a double drum tumbler capable of 6 lbs. It is very convenient to have two drums as I have been trying different samples at one time. I have successfully tumbled our specimens from Gem Mountain as well as the first two stages of the Barleywood Farms Blue Quartz. I must say I really like that quartz!
We purchased the tumbler from Harbor Freight Tools. They carry rotary tumblers, grit packages, and even Vibratory Tumblers (we got a 5 lb Vibratory Tumbler as well). It was put to immediate use and the learning curve is pretty easy. It took the cats a few days to get used to it, but they no longer pay it any attention.
I renewed my membership in the GPAA (I will post separately about this), and have been working on research into future trips. I will keep everyone posted on the amazing fun we are having!
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