Crystal Hunting in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

[herchenx]

A few weeks back, rockroller Roland and myself, along with 3 of my kids, went to Red Feather Lakes, Colorado to mine quartz crystals on a private claim our club had access to.

There were crystals everywhere, most either broken or covered with hematite or an iron stain.

The kids had a blast and we found a lot of fun stuff.

My youngest chipping away on a big rock. He spent hours doing this.



A handful of my early finds



Stopping for lunch by the creek



This is my older son, getting uncharacteristically ambitious in digging out a hole in the tailings pile



His work paid off, he found (I believe) the only amethyst of the day, and it was a pretty one



Once we got home, I put a bunch of "meh" stones in a plastic tub and soaked them in Muriatic Acid. They never really improved much so I didn't take an "after" photo - this is before.



I did manage to clean up some other clusters and points I'd hoped might be interesting. Nothing great, but I liked them for one reason or another.

Highly hematized point clusters



A few of the nicer ones



I know Roland has been back up there, don't know how he did but it is a beautiful place and it is a fun trip.

[captbob]

Thanks for sharing another of your enviable hounding trips!

Is the iron staining through out or surface staining? Maybe a soak in Super Iron Out might help more than Muriatic Acid? If you try it, be careful as that stuff gives of some pretty toxic fumes.

[herchenx]

I haven't been able to completely remove it to know if it throughout or not. I used Muriatic Acid because it was 30% HCl - and yes it gives off bad fumes. I spent a few years working in a chemical plant and have a decent handle on safety, but it is bad stuff no doubt.

[rockpickerforever]

Sept 30, 2015 12:34:00 GMT -5 herchenx said:

This is my older son, getting uncharacteristically ambitious in digging out a hole in the tailings pile
His work paid off, he found (I believe) the only amethyst of the day, and it was a pretty one

Wow!  That's a great find!  Did he have some kind of sixth sense, telling him to excavate that hole?  In the tailings pile, no less.  Maybe I can borrow him for one of my rock hunts?

Looks like you guys all had a great time.  That's what it's all about!

[herchenx]

They used to mine really nice amethyst here, but supposedly it is all gone except what can be recovered in the tailing pile. Yeah he just picked a spot and started digging!

[Noosh9057]

Looks like a lot of fun.

Roger

[delo]

That amethyst is very nice! great find!

[quartz]

Enjoyed your trip, my wife and I hope to someday visit a place we can find crystals. Nice area, fun trip, thanks.

[nowyo]

Looks like fun trip with some cool finds. That is a pretty area. Thanks for dragging us a;long again.

Russ

[paulshiroma]

Outstanding trip report! Looks like you all had a great time!
Paul