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About a year ago I bought a book from a local bookstore on rockhounding in Utah, just out of curiosity really. For those who don’t know, rockhounding is basically the hobby of searching for and collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils from the natural environment, and those who know me well know that I easily get distracted by pretty rocks. After scanning through it, I've decided that I want to visit and rockhound at all 69 locations identified in the book before I die.
The past few days I have been lucky enough to visit Southern Utah, which just so happens to be a hotspot for rockhounding locations. Fossils, pyrite, agate, petrified wood, jasper, onyx, obsidian, garnet, topaz, labradorite, and sunstone are just a few of the specimens you can find in the area. The area I’m staying in is close to several of the rockhounding locations listed in the book as well.
While I haven’t directly rockhounded at any of these locations just yet, I have driven by them and have enjoyed the beauty of the Southern Utah desert. Really you don’t need to be constantly scanning the ground or chipping away at rock to enjoy the wonders of Utah geology. The towering red sandstone bluffs and cliffs really are a sight to see and I highly recommend stopping for an hour or two and taking it all in if you ever find yourself in the area. Regardless, I was able to acquire some beautiful mineral and rock pieces a few days ago and I’d love to share them.
The bulk of my finds were actually fossils; mainly those of ancient sea critters. I’m able to identify some as prehistoric clams or relatives, but the rest are unknown to me. I’m guessing coral or crinoids maybe? I was lucky enough to find all of these just a couple hundred feet from where I’m staying!
In addition to these fossils, I was able to find massive crystal sheet clusters which I’m pretty sure are mica. These were so exciting to find; I’ve never in my life seen such large mica sheets. It tends to be a very delicate mineral, so it was surprising to find them intact.
I found these on private property with permission to look for them, but I’ll admit I kinda got carried away searching for these little guys, so I may put some back. Really it’s the thrill of the search that’s the most exciting part about it anyways. It’s important to note that if you ever decide to go rockhounding yourself, please do your research when it comes to finding locations that allow the taking of rocks. A lot of locations don’t allow such activities, plus it’s easier than you think to accidentally trespass on private land, so keep that in mind.
Though I love to search for my own rocks, I’ve been known to spend an embarrassing amount of money on those in rock shops. Speaking of which, I was able to stop by a local rock shop with a diverse collection of beautiful and rare specimens. I caved (pun intended) and bought a couple of stones: This beautiful slab of mookaite jasper, a quartz rock with pyrite inclusions, a tumbled piece of leopard skin jasper, and a piece of blue and green aura quartz (I know aura quartz isn’t natural but this one was just so pretty and shiny).
Out of all of my hobbies, rockhounding has gotta be my favorite so be on the lookout for future rockhounding posts!
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