GMS Juniors Field Trip November 2022

GMS Juniors Field Trip
Quartz Crystals in Georgia
Sunday, November 13, 2022

A gaggle of excited juniors (and adults) waited impatiently while I took a group photo, then galloped away to dig for crystals. Shovels and screens and buckets clattered as the eager rockhounds scurried along on that crisp November morning until they finally arrived at a spot of scraped up dirt. It was scraped up because Jason Leatherwood had just run his tractor thingie over the area to flip the dirt over to make it easier to dig for the quartz crystals.

It is a rather small outcropping of crystals in a puny pegmatite, so everyone had to cram into the spot, but it wasn’t long before they were finding crystals! I could hardly keep up with each excited shout! Juniors learned about quartz crystals versus massive quartz, clear quartz versus milky quartz, and they learned about the saprolite where the crystals were hiding.

Diana Poppelreuter brought a bucket of water with a squirt of soap and a splash of vinegar in it. Juniors took the crystals they had just dug out of the ground, swished them in the water, and wiped them off on their pants (yes, on their pants, they are true rockhounds!) Then, Diana wire-wrapped their crystals for them right on the spot!

The property owner got his fire pit glowing so we could roast hotdogs and marshmallows. Diana brought hot cocoa and coffee to warm our bellies, and members brought snacks including chips and cake and cookies and s’more stuff to share. Savvy juniors taught me the best techniques for roasting my marshmallows golden brown instead of charcoal black. A picture of a large cluster of crystals came up from the digging site and reignited the morning’s excitement, so everyone ate their last marshmallow and jumped back into the dirt. Everyone went home happy with their finds for the day and the adventures they shared with each other.

As always, we cannot thank the property owner enough for his generosity and for graciously allowing us to dig a big hole in his field. Many thanks to Jason, Nedra, Aaron, and Nathan for pepping the site and flipping it a few times again as juniors were digging. Thank you to Diana for bringing hot cocoa and coffee and for wire-wrapping crystals for juniors. Thank you to all of the members who brought snacks and helped juniors dig. Thank you to the juniors for bringing me their favorites to photograph and teaching me how to roast marshmallows. And, of course, thank you to Charles for arranging this wonderful trip!

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, Field Trip Chair
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