Gold Mine Road - Montgomery County Maryland

  The history of gold mining in Maryland is very long and diverse.  There have been many locations where placer gold and even minor lode gold has been found and mined.  One of the oldest finds in Maryland is Brookeville.  This quaint little town sits in the north county on Georgia Avenue (Route 97) just north of Olney.  Brookeville was once the capital of the US for a day as president James Madison fled British troops burning Washington during the War of 1812.

  Reddy Branch is a stream that flows thru the town into the Patuxent River to the east.  This stream was used for many things over the years, powering local mills and supporting a local gold mine.  Three street names in the area caught my attention and led to some research.  The first was Gold Mine Road.  The name itself is out of place for the region and has always been of interest.  Given that the street is also rather old and has had that name for years was interesting.  Directly off of the street is Prospect Point Ct. and Pyrite Lane.  Seeing these names and looking at the topography of the area led me to investigate.

  There is not much information readily available about the mine, but it is referenced by the MGS as having been a farm location with no recorded production.  My personal experience in Maryland gold may shed some light on the area.  Pyrite Lane is named for a rather large deposit of the named mineral being found in Quartz at that location.  Prospect Point is on the other side of Gold Mine Road on the highest elevation outside the town itself.  I believe that the locals found either some very small Gold placers or Pyrite inclusions on Quartz and began prospecting the area.  With the find at Pyrite Lane, Gold prospecting basically stopped in the area as no significant deposits were found.

  Looking at known locations of Gold in Maryland shows Brookeville sitting in an unfortunate location.  Tracing a line thru all the locations, you will get a "Fan" like shape extending in all directions around Brookeville.  It sits dead center of a "Dead" zone in placer deposits.  To the southwest area the Rock Run formations of Potomac (Great Falls and Rock Run mines).  To the northwest are several mines in Frederick County that were not Gold mines, but found the mineral while extracting other minerals as traces.  To the north and northeast, the copper mines of Carrol County and Baltimore County had trace deposits of Gold as by-product.

  Having said all of that, I had to check out the area.



Gold Mine Road and Reddy Branch

Taking Georgia Avenue north toward Brookeville, Gold Mine Road is easily accessed.  Keep driving down Gold Mine past Prospect Point (left) and Pyrite Lane (right) to the bridge.  There are some local homes and businesses nearby, but I found a parking pull off right by the bridge.  The stream itself is part of Hawlings River Stream Valley Park and is protected.  Please use respect when in the area like you would any other natural resource.

Reddy Branch Stream bed


  The stream itself has little topography and is slow moving.  No established paths exist along the stream, so hiking is at your own risk.  Travelling downstream from the bridge, I encountered quite a few White Tail Deer, so bear this in mind as well.  Avoid aggressive males during the rut season!  I travelled the west bank between the stream and Chandlee Mill Road.  Unfortunately, there is years worth of trash and debris along the road bank.

Quartz Cobbles at base of hill

  Walking along the hillside of Chandlee Mill Road, there are numerous Quartz samples littering the ground.  Some are cobbles, but I also noticed several large boulders protruding from the ground.  Below are assorted samples.

Quartz Sample 1

Quartz Sample 2

Quartz Sample 3

Quartz Sample 4

  None of these samples was particularly spectacular, but they showed a few hints as to the mineralogy of the zone.  They all showed fractures thru the entire piece, and pieces 2 and 4 showed signs of Iron Oxide (pink tint) in the cracks.  The rusting is a result of the break down of the Pyrite materials inside the rocks leaching out of the cracks.

  After a nice little walk thru the area, I decided to check upstream of the bridge to see the different formations closer to Prospect Point.  Given that Prospect Point sits atop a hill on private land, I had to stay close to the stream.  I did not yet have permission to search from the landowners, so I didn't want to trespass.

  Upstream the rocks changed quickly as they were more exposed from erosion.  Within 50 feet of the bridge, I came across a huge Gabbro boulder protruding from the ground.  This boulder was large enough and resistant enough to cause the stream to divert around it and form a nice arc in the stream.  Even though this boulder was covered with overgrowth and mainly below soil, it was very impressive.

Huge Boulder in Ground

  Just beyond this first boulder, there were more protruding from the soil and leading to the higher elevations of the two hills that flank the stream at this location.  Some of the other boulders showed intrusions of quartz and were worth a look see.

Gabbro with Quartz Intrusions

  As I was leaving the area, I had to scramble thru some brush to get back to the road.  In doing so, I actually stumbled onto a large Quartz boulder.  Only the very top of it was protruding from the soil, but that was enough to get my attention.  The formation was rather large and showed multiple points sticking out of the surface nearby.  Given that it had grabbed my foot as I passed by, I decided to whack a small section off to see what was in the cracks.  As is the norm for the area, there was a lot of rust in the cracks showing the break down of local Iron minerals.

Tip of the boulder that tried to trip me

  On a final note for this area, it is lovely.  The stream is fairly deep for the area, slow moving, and showed some great signs of fish.  I didn't get into the bed as the bank is steep and not many gravel bars were apparent.  I would like to further explore the hillside that is Prospect Point, but I will need to contact a few property owners to do so.  There is also a nice farm on the east bank below the bridge that I would like to get permission to explore.  I can see by the topography that the stream course once passed thru the farm and not in it's current location.  A bit of digging on dry land should get me down to the old gravel beds and maybe some placer deposits!

Catoctin Creek - Frederick County Maryland

Catoctin Creek road Crossing

  Just west of the town of Jefferson Maryland, routes 340, 180, and Catoctin Creek meet.  The above picture is the road crossing over the creek on 180.  This is a lovely part of Maryland for it's scenic views, gorgeous farmland, and lack of traffic.  Not too far from the Hustle and Bustle of DC is this nicely rural part of the state.  Most people drive past (over) this stream at 60+ mph on 340 and never even know it's there.  Sometimes they are in a hurry to get home, or racing to the nearby casino across the river in WV, but they don't know what they are missing.

  There is a large outcrop in the landscape that causes the stream to divert at this location.  It is a wonderful chance to see how the local rock formations are still at work eroding the valley and hills.

Outcrop causing stream to divert around

 Route 340 was built using this outcrop as a support base for the bridge on both sides of the stream.  Directly north of route 340 the stream meanders through the valley at a low grade and exposes a decent bed and even some minor cliff faces about 150 ft tall.  The stream bed consists mainly of rounded cobbles and gravel with sand interwoven.  The stream itself cuts through the zone of Paleozoic rock formations of either felsic or mafic origin.  Quartz Diorite, Granite, Gabbro, and Serpentinite are all listed as base rocks in this zone.  The stream also pulls from further up county and lies between both Braddock and South Mountains.  Given the location, this creek actually lies between the Blue Ridge Mountains (South Mountain) and and the lowland section of the Piedmont Plateau.  This allows for the erosion of Cambrian - Pre-Cambrian metamorphic to be included in the mix as well.

Catoctin Creek bed

  Given that my visit to this location was the day after spraining my ankle, I was unable to really examine the stream bed.  I did notice some serpentinite samples s well as numerous quartz pebbles while there.  A further and closer examination is definitely warranted.  Catoctin Creek in it's lower reaches has been known to produce some very nice quartz cobbles with crystal formations inside.  Smoky, Milky, Clear, and Blue Quartz are all native to the region.

Close up of stream pebbles

  The last thing of note for this particular spot is the fresh fractured sections of the outcrop that can be found in the stream bed.  As active erosion digs further and further into the cliff, more and more material is washing into the stream.  Given the lack of change in topography at the stream level, most erosion happens during flood stage.  This allows for a greater diversity of mixed rocks in the bed and makes for interesting searching.

Yet another interesting find!

  It always amazes me the types of things you can find in Rock Hounding.  These sometimes tiny samples sit and sit for so long, just waiting to be revealed.  The chances of actually finding some of these minerals is so astronomically low, it baffles the mind.  I understand that with the right person actively searching for particular things, the chances go up dramatically, but there is so much randomness to this.

  To stress the point even further, allow me to clarify this particular situation.  I have taken this interest in rock hounding.  I decided to begin my adventures in familiar areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania.  I don't know all that much about minerals or even geology yet, but I have at least taken a proactive approach to learning. I have studied many maps, bought lots of books, read and understand both, and stepped into the field to find things.  So far I rely on instinct to find interesting samples.  Anything that catches my eye gets picked up and observed.  Only a few actually get put into the bag or bucket to get cleaned up and really observed.  I noticed at first that I was picking up many mundane samples just to familiarize myself with the native rocks of the particular area.  In doing so, I learn what looks strange for the surroundings.  A good example would be the blue quartz found at Barleywood.  I picked it up thinking it was smoky quartz and therefore odd for the area.  There was tons of quartz in that field, but only a few dark pieces in a particular area.  I picked up several samples that showed the darkness even through all the dirt.  In doing so, I didn't look at them too well at the time, but ended up with some very cool samples that lead me to research even more.

  One of my recent trips, I was admiring the local outcrops of Phyllite when I noticed a few pieces of quartz were either laying on the ground nearby or even still embedded together with the material.  Since I am always interested in the relationship of different rocks and the locations of source materials, I picked up two pieces of rock.  The first piece of phyllite was pulled from the outcrop, while the piece of quartz was taken from the ground.  I do not know that the quartz was attached originally, but it's location infers that it was.  

  When I got the samples home, I put them through the regular basic cleaning process.  As I sorted through the samples, the piece of phyllite was briefly examined and set aside.  The quartz looked normal enough compared to the other samples and was also set aside.  Two days passed with this sample sitting on the back patio, not even being thought of.  Once again, the sample waited to be discovered.  I went out back to smoke and was picking through the samples when I noticed it had a darker than normal spot on it.  It looked like there was something inside one of the many fractures on the piece.  I grabbed my hammer and gave it a whack.  Below are some images of what I found.

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of material scraped from Quartz

  On first inspection of this sample, I of course thought the inclusion was Gold.  What concerned me was the Iron Oxide directly surrounding the material.  My mind raced with the possibilities.  The iron material had oxidized in the same space as the golden material, so there was obviously penetration into the space.  The total size of the gold material is about the size of a dime, so there is not much to work with.  It is actually on three pieces of material from the same sample.  When I broke it open, there were two halves with almost identical samples attached.  The third piece was broken from another section and revealed more material only on one of the pieces that separated.

 Needless to say, I was excited.  This small sample rock had been sitting for so long, and I had found it.  I began doing some more research as to the other materials the "Gold" could be.  Given that Gold is not commonly found in formation in Maryland, I figured it might be something else.  The usual suspects are Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, or Marcasite. All three are possibilities other than Gold, but I also noticed a few interesting things.  The first big test would be tarnish.  So far the sample has yet to tarnish.  The surrounding material did tarnish further once exposed to direct air, and even some spots covering the "gold" tarnished as well.  These spots were easy to wipe away though, so I assume they were residual iron that rusted quickly being wet and exposed.

  Pyrite often occurs with Gold.  Some massive samples of Pyrite have dissolved leaving traces of Gold behind.   Both Chalcopyrite and Marcasite has a blue/purple tint to tarnish.  For fear of losing the sample, I didn't want to poke, prod, scrape, or dissolve it, so I am going to wait for more time for tarnish to naturally occur.  In the mean time, I am going to research further.

  No matter what this sample is, it is still amazing to have found it.  It is so far the largest inclusion I have found on native rocks in Maryland and makes me want to find more!  I will be returning to that site in the near future to look for more of the same, as well as other interesting samples.

**Edit - After posting to some mineral forums, a few helpful experts have chimed in that this is probably deteriorating Pyrite.  The gold color is probably just the section that has yet to oxidize.  I am now researching cleaning and preservation methods as I still think this is the neatest inclusion found so far!**

A very surprising find!

  As is the new normal for us, Stacy and I went through my recent specimens this past weekend.  We had a good time examining my finds as I explained where I got them, how I got them, and even a bit of "Why" I got them.  As she so nicely put it last night, "You like the strangest things!"
 
  Last week I spent some time in Frederick County MD, searching cornfields, stream beds, and road cuts.  I have been focusing my search on quartz specimens because I know that they sometimes form nice crystals.  Quartz and Quartzite also often have other inclusions within them as well.  Maryland seems to have an abundance of these two in many forms.  I must make a few corrections from last weeks postings as well.

1 - The Rose quartz I reported finding at Barleywood farms was actually a piece of Quartz that was so covered in dirt it was hard to see clearly.  Given that I am still new to this, I misidentified the sample at first.  This sample was not Rose Quartz at all but has a lovely pink tinge from the iron oxide interwoven through the whole sample.

Milky Quartz with Reddish Iron Deposits

Iron stained quartz sample.  After cleaning, this piece still looked very pretty.  This sample is about 1" x 3/4" x 3/4"  It still needs some cleaning, but I am hesitant to chemically clean it for fear of losing the pink coloring on the outside.  I believe I will try and tumble similar samples in the near future.






2 - The Smoky quartz sample I found at this location was in fact Smoky/Milky Quartz.  I thought I had picked up about 10-15 samples of this material though.  After closer examination, I found that I had found one Smokey, and about 10 - 15 samples of Blue Quartz.  Below are two images to show the types of samples I recovered.  Bear in mind these are rough cleaned so still have some dirt and debris attached.

Barleywood Blue Quartz (Back lit)

 Both Images show the same sample.  The first image is back lit on my light table to help show the color transfers throughout the entire sample.  The second image has a better representation of the sample in natural light.

Barleywood Blue Quartz

Without the light table, you can see the very grayish tinge to the coloring that lead to me thinking I had more smokey quartz samples.

  All of the samples show the same pattern of oxidation in the iron materials in the stones and the local soil.  Every sample retrieved from this site has been tilled and plowed numerous times in the 200 years the farm has been in operation.  The average sample was about the size of a golf ball.

  I once again want to thank the owner of Barleywood Farms for allowing me to search the fields.  He is a very nice man and I hope to show him some of the finds in the very near future!

A Special Thanks

Monday afternoon I made my weekly journey to Maryland from Pennsylvania.  I have been enjoying the drive as I imagine the different times I am travelling through as I cross the countryside.  The road cuts along route 70 are fascinating!  You can see so many interesting layers of rock in such a short drive.  I found myself deviating from my normal path and got off the highway to take MD 17 across the mountains.  I passed through Burkittsville and headed toward Brunswick.  I came to the intersection (Traffic Circle) of 17 and 180 and turned toward Frederick.  I had seen a field of interest the week before and wanted to see if I could find the owner.  Jake Slagle had posted on Mineral Bliss that he had found a nice quartz crystal in the area.  I decided to hit another field nearby. 

Barleywood Farm - Est. 1793

Barleywood Farm lies right on MD 180 just north of Brunswick.  The original farm was very large and spanned an area of several thousand acres.  340, 180, and 17 all dissect the original lot.  The current owner is a very nice man, but he sub-lets the land to local farmers to cultivate.

Recently Tilled Corn Field

The farm lot across  from the farmhouse was recently tilled.  It is a large parcel sandwiched between 340 and 180.  I asked permission to roam the lot and search for samples.  The owner was very nice and told me to have a good time.  He has had previous visitors ask permission, but they were all searching for Civil War items.  He seemed generally pleased with the idea of someone looking for minerals.

Showing the perspective

After getting the owners blessing for my outing, I drove to the lot and grabbed my bag and rock hammer.  This shot does a good job showing how large the parcel is.  The Silo in the background is just on the other side of route 340 and this land extends over the hill to that road as well.  I mainly searched the dips in the field shown in the center here.  This area had the least amount of plow damage and lots of quartz samples.

Search the tree lines when possible

I also made it a point to search the treeline between the lot and 180.  There are several large piles of quartz rocks moved to the side over the years.  Given the age of the farm, many large boulders have been taken from the fields.  Some have been removed, others dot the local yards, some are now part of the driveway, but a few remain in the shade of the trees.  There were three main varieties of quartz in the field:  Milky, Rosey, and Smokey.




  I must admit that I am jealous of Jake's find.  I must also admit that his post inspired me to contact a local land owner and get permission to walk the field.  I had a lovely conversation, met a very interesting person, and had a great, relaxing stroll through a tilled field looking for samples.  I managed to get some interesting massive samples, but found no real crystal formations.  All in All, a good time was had.  There is definitely something to be said for searching the fields!

The Clean Up Process - 2 - Prepping to Pan Material

Last post I went into details of basic cleaning of Quartz samples.  This time I will get into how to go thru and sort some smaller things like sand and gravel samples. 

This process is basically designed to prep material gathered for panning at home.  Since I have limited time to do the initial surveys, I normally bring home a can of material.  By sorting it this way, I get to really see what the streams are carrying in the way of material.  The end result is that I can see if there is Gold, Gemstones, Fossils, or just some neat looking Minerals in the stream beds.

If I find a good sample, I have taken notes as to where and when the samples were taken.  Small sampling is less intrusive to the locations as well.  No need to haul a Sluice Box and a big shovel.  I can scout the stream and find a promising location for deposits.  I also get to enjoy a nice walk in the woods normally to get there!

Step 1 - Lay out Materials and Equipment


Bowls,, Basin, Mesh Strainers, Scoop, and Material



The yellow can contains the gravel/sand to be sorted.  The two white bowls are for storing sand/gravel during the process.  The scoop (pumpkin carving scoop) is for placing sand/gravel into mesh screens.  The two mess screens are 60 and 80, both purchased at a cooking supply store.  Some water and maybe dish soap if needed.






Pour material into another container

Next, I pour the sand/gravel mix into a flat, wide basin for easier scooping.  This allows me to look at the material a bit better before dropping it into the screen.  Sometimes you may find a good sample in the container and want to pull it out before screening.





Pre-Wash Material



Notice that the water in the sand/gravel mixture has some soap bubbles in it.  I have added some dish soap to loosen any silt/clay lumps.  Small particles are famous for sticking inside clay balls.  Anything you can do to break them up is a wise idea here.






Step 2 - Begin to screen (60 Mesh)

Start with widest mesh first

Using the 60 mess screen (smaller number = larger holes), begin by scooping small amounts into the strainers.  The image is not super accurate as I had to use a hand for the camera as well.  Once you have a scoop in the strainer, run your fingers thru the material to check for clay balls.  Mash as needed.

Shake back and forth, round and round

Shake your strainer back and forth and round and round.  The water will dirty as the smaller particles slip thru the mesh.  Using small scoops ensures that the material will be sorted enough.  At this point in time, remove any larger pebbles and gravel to help sorting process.  Make sure to hold the material under the water line to ease the separation.

Separate containers

Now that you have the material separated, place the gravel in a separate container for later study.  You will continue to do this until you have gone thru the first screening of the material.  This is the stage that all the larger material and organics (sticks and leaves) are removed.  Your sorted material will also have been cleaned nicely if you used soapy water, but may need a rinse at the end.  Repeat as needed.




Step 3 - Begin to Screen (80 Mesh)

Screen at 80 Mesh

This process is exactly the same as for 60 mesh.  The only difference is that you are getting mush finer material sorted.  Similar sized material is easiest to sort thru and pan later.







Step 4 - Show off the goods!

Stacy looks thru the material

Here is a shot of my lovely wife Stacy looking thru the sorted material.  Notice how she was nice enough to bring me the coffee drink for my hard work?  I was left with three containers of material.  One rough gravel, one 60 mesh, and one 80 mesh.





Final Step - Pan the Material

I don't have pictures of the panning process just yet.  If you want to see how to pan for Gold and Minerals, GO HERE.  Much of the beginning steps have been removed by sorting the material this way, but you may want to pan all the material (not just the really fine stuff) as well.  Never know if there is a nugget in there!

The Clean-Up Process - 1

Having some extra time to kill this weekend (resting the ankle), I thought about my whole clean-up process and decided to share some info with everyone.  I had taken some pics of the whole process to show how I go about sorting and cleaning samples.

Step 1 - Unload the truck

Unload the goodies!

As I collect, I try to keep everything sorted by location.  5 Gallon buckets and recycled coffee cans work very well for holding samples.  I also use plastic bags so I can write the date and location of samples to help keep organized.








Step 2 - Sort and prep for cleaning

Crate of Quartz Samples from W. Old Baltimore Rd.

This is a crate of Quartz I collected from around West Old Baltimore Rd. in northern Montgomery County.  The samples are from an exposed hillside, so they had lots of clay, dirt, and moss on them.








Step 3 - Soaking the Samples

Samples in 5 Gal. Bucket with Dish soap

I placed the samples into a 5 Gal. bucket and added a liberal amount of Dish soap to the bucket.  Quartz is very resistant, and the samples had already been exposed to wet weather, so i had no concerns with this process.  Not all samples can be cleaned this way though, so be careful!

Add Water

The next step is important.  Add water.  Sounds easy right?  Be careful though.  Water that is too hot (on cold samples) or too cold (on hot samples) can cause breaking and fracturing of crystals.  The samples were about 70 degrees F, so I had to roll the hose out into the sun to help warm up my very cold tap water.

Let Soak in Sunlight

I then set these samples against the wall to slowly warm up the water some more in the sun.  Many cleaning agents work better hot or warm.  Slowly heating tends to be the best protection.  I know these Quartz samples had been exposed to rain water and freezing, but using the same techniques safely builds a good habit.  Letting these samples soak in soapy water for two days loosened up most of the clay that was caked on and prepared for a good scrubbing later on.

Step 4 - Clean Water Soak

  I have no pictures of the next part as it is really just re-soaking the samples in fresh, clean water.  After washing all the soap off the samples, soak them for about 2 hours in fresh water.  Change your water 2- 3 times to make sure all the soap is off and out of the cracks.  This process will also help loosen and remove stuck on clay and dirt.

Step 5 - Scrub and Let Samples Dry

  Depending on weather, location, etc. this may vary in length.  I like to let the samples sit out on a sunny day for a few hours to air dry.  I will normally inspect each sample out of the bucket to see if there are additional spots that need cleaning.  I use toothbrushes and plastic dish brushes to remove any remaining dirt/clay and make a visual inspection for Moss or Algae.  Scrub off as much as you can.  Should you encounter plant matter growing on the samples, you will need to add one more step.

Step 6 - Plant Matter Killing

  Using a separate bucket, add one cap of standard bleach for each gallon of water added.  Bear in mind your samples are taking up space in the bucket, so don't add 5 cap fulls and a tiny bit of water.  This sample set was all bleached and took up about three gallons of space.  I added two caps of bleach and filled the bucket.  Bleach reacts with other chemicals and can be harmful, so please use caution.  Always keep in mind that kids are curious and love buckets with water for some reason!

  Repeat steps 4 and 5 after bleaching.

  Now you should have some nice clean samples.  Wait, you still have dirty looking quartz!!??!!  Not surprising.  Most of the samples I have collected so far come from streams.  Both PA and MD have high concentrations of Iron in the soil and water.  Some stains are just pesky.  Should you want to learn more advanced methods of cleaning quartz, GO HERE.  You can also search the web for alternative methods.

Injury Update 9-14-10

 So I did the smart thing and took it real easy over the weekend.  Stacy and the kids were great!  They made sure to keep me off my feet as much as I would allow.  A little R&R was just the ticket to help in a speedy recovery.

Left Ankle after bruising



Left Ankle after Bruising


Even though the bruising is a bit worse than pictured here, the ankle is doing well.  I can put weight on it, walk almost normally, and it only gets sore if I don't keep it elevated.  Should be good to go in a few more days.  Just need to go easy for some time.

Rock Hounding on Facebook

Hey all, to help spread my passion for rocks and minerals, and to ease some communication, I have started a Rockhounding on Facebook Group.  If you are on FB, please join!

Injuries in the Field - 9-8-10

Morning All!

So, I had touched on the need for a cheaper camera in the last entry, and yesterday proved my point.  While walking around a nice park setting, I actually slipped and sprained my left ankle on the path back to the truck.  I was not climbing anything weird, nor in the water, just climbing a path with some older uneven stone steps.  All the weight was on my ankle when i lost my footing and it folded under me pretty good.  This brings up some other points though.

1 - I was not carrying the expensive camera at the time, so that is fine.  I would have liked some photos of the area as it was stunning yesterday!

2 - Tell someone where you are going.  If you are headed out to remote areas for any amount of time, make sure someone knows where (roughly) you are headed.  In the event something happens and you cannot get back, they can help report you missing and direct search efforts more effectively!

3 - Bring a Cell Phone - Granted, you may not have a signal in some more remote areas, but I had full bars on mine when I went down.  Had I actually broken my ankle, I could have called 911.

4 - If at all possible, bring a buddy.  Someone to lean on, go for help, whatever can mean the difference between life and death.

5 - Be as safe as possible.  Take your time, check your path, wear the proper clothing, carry water, know first aid.  You know all the drills, just wanted to be nice and remind everyone!

Oh, and here is the CANKLE from last night.  This is after 800mg Ibuprofen and Ice for one hour.

Swelling and Bruise

Be safe!

9-7-10 Explorations and Spider Bites!

Greetings All!

Spent the afternoon yesterday just out and about wandering some streams.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just scouting some new areas.  I had been reading a bit about the controversy over Maryland's State Gem, the Patuxent River Stone.  Below is an image of said stone.

Tumbled River Stone

  Now I am not going to get into the details, but this was actually kind of surprising to find out the controversy behind this stone becoming the State Gemstone.  If you want more details, Google "Potomac River Agate" and check the links.

  The only reason I brought it up, was because my travels took me to Patuxent River State Park for some hiking.  I of course searched the stream beds for any possible examples of the state gem, but came up empty.  Maybe I was in the wrong part of the river (most likely), or it is just not that easy to find (also probable).  Needless to say, the park is wonderful!  I am so happy that MD has so many nice streams and rivers to enjoy.  I started at the north end of the park @ Long Corner Road.  Parking was easy and the path to the stream just slightly over grown.  MD has not faired well with the recent wind storms, so there are numerous trees down in the park and across the stream bed.  Please use caution if traveling the area due to downed trees, slippery paths, poison ivy, and numerous insects.

  The most notable location I stopped at was the intersection of Hipsley Mill and Annapolic Rock Road.  This location is actually on Cabin Branch (a tributary of the Patuxent) and showed some amazing local outcrops.  Unfortunately, the overgrowth prevented me from getting back into the woods to really examine them.  I will have to come back in the winter!

  The second reason this area is so notable was the spider bite I recieved while there.  I felt a spiderweb on my head and something touching my ear while looking into the woods, so I brushed it with my hand.  Not surprising, there was a spider now attached to my right index finger.  It was not happy and actually bite me for my action.  Taking care not just crush the spider or flick it away before identifying it, I had to overcome my surprise and fear of spiders, and actually look at the offending bugger!  A close friend of mine was bitten by either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse last November and he is still recovering.  One of the things his doctors said was that it was a shame he didn't know which it was, as it would have helped in treatment.  So I looked.  What I found was a rather upset Wolf Spider.  The bite was very quick and didn't actually penetrate the skin much, but it was my wake up call.  I do not really want to get bitten too often, so I may scale down my searching a bit till autumn arrives.

  After searching for a few hours and walking the stream, I noticed that most of the quartz in the area is rather fragile and crumbly.  Large concentrations of Iron inclusions have been rusted away from these stones and they crush very easily.  I also found samples of quartzite, schist, shale, slate, and many mixed rocks.  The boundary for the metamorphic and sedimentary rocks seems to be interwoven in this nice little valley and it is easy to find smaples of both types of rocks side by side.  Closer examination of the local outcrops appear to be Phyllite (metamorphic rock between shale and slate).  Some of the banding in the outcrops showed further metamorphism and had bands of quartz (ite) interwoven within.

  One of the lessons I also learned was that I may want to get a less expensive camera to take along with me.  I was hesitant to bring the Nikon into this area due to the slippery surfaces, so I have no pics to add.....

Until next time!

Labor Day weekend

Howdy all!  Hope you had a good holiday weekend!

As you know, I recieved my digital microscope and an assortment of loupes this past weekend.  Stacy and I definately put them to good use!  Here are some pics of what we got.

Digital Microscope

This is a USB digital microscope with 7 LED lights.  We are plugging it into my laptop and viewing some pretty interesting details on the samples collected.  We learned a few tricks as to the operation this weekend.  First, the White Balance was way off, so we had to adjust that.  Second, it was saving images directly to the program (unknown location), and I had to set the directory to be able to find the pics easier (lost about 100 images in a crash).

Field Scope with LED

Handy little field scope.  This has multiple zoom and focal ranges as well as a built in LED light/  No more holding the loupe and flashlight for me!  Should make field surveys a bit easier and one less thing to carry.

Mini LED Scope

This thing is TINY!  It looks it in the picture, and is in real life.  It is a small field scope with LED light.  It functions like an old school elementary microscope with a sliding focus and magnification tube.  Handy for quick peeks, but too fragile for the field!

30x Loupe with LED light

30x magnification jeweler's loupe with LED light.  Was purchased for home study of samples.  Takes the hassel out of holding the loupe and the LED flashlight at the same time.  It is nice and light, and has better magnification than the first one we bought.











I also recieved a great book from Amazon as well.  Maryland's Geology by Martin F. Schmidt JR  It is very informative and a wonderful resource to have if you live in or around MD.

Sorry for the lack of pics from the samples, but the learning curve taught me two very important lessons this weekend.

1 - Save the images to a specific file for ease of recovery.  This would have really helped with the crash.  The program dumped the 100 images I had taken prior to the crash.

2 - Back up new images to a thimb drive so I can bring them with me to MD!

I will post some nice close up pics very soon though.

9-3-10 Microscope came today!!

So I was relaxing at home after the cable guys left, and the UPS guy walks up to the door with a package for me.  I got my new LED jeweler's loupes and my digital microscope.   Below are a few samples of new images.

80 Mesh screened sand

Sample image of sand after 80 mesh screening.  This sample is in a glass vial under the highest magnification I could manage on first attempt.  This sample came from Seneca Creek in Mont. Co. MD.

Moss growing on Quartz

This image is of Moss growing on an uncleaned Quartz sample from Seneca Creek in Mont. Co. MD.  I was surprised that it was there because I hadn't seen it with the naked eye!

Brazilian Emerald in Black Mica

Brazilian Emerald in Black Mica from a purchase Stacy and I made.  Ebay is a wonderful thing.  We purchased roughly 1200 carats of these for practice and tumbling.  They were oil treated, but i wanted natural so I soaked in soapy water for two days to get the oil out.

Carnelian inclusion on Quartz (?)

This is one of the most interesting samples I have acquired in MD so far.  Found in a stream as a larger rock, I broke it open looking for gold inclusions and found what i believe is Carnelian.  Many of the local rocks have Magnetite inclusions, and Iron Oxide is very common within them.  I might be wrong, especially with the formation of crystals.  I am going to pass this image along to a more knowledgable friend for confirmation.




  These are the first four decent captures I have so far.  Many more to come!