A great hobby that you can enjoy outdoors is rock & mineral collecting. Some rock collectors become so fanatical about their hobby that I think it borders on mental illness.
While similar, prospecting for gold, silver, or other precious minerals is generally done for profit.
Mineral mania runs in my family. In the 1930s My Dad and his uncle had a gold mine out in the Mojave Desert and he worked it in the summers to help put himself through college. I recall him telling us that each morning he had to go into the mine and remove the rattlers and the desert tortoises that fell in. Dad saved the tortoises but dispatched the rattlers. We even had a pet desert tortoise when I was growing up.
My uncle Joe had the mineral mania even worse than my Dad, and had an opal mine out in the Nevada desert. He dug opals, petrified wood, and other treasures from the desert until he suffered a massive stroke. When Uncle Joe could no longer work his claim he offered it to his sons, but it was too far away from their home but they declined. Then Uncle Joe offered the opal mine to me. I thought long and hard about becoming a miner, but the mine was too distant for me too, I passed up a free opal mine. I often think that maybe I should have taken Uncle Joe up on his offer. Who knows? Maybe I’d be retired in the lap of luxury, or maybe not.
Mineral mania can affect almost anyone. My friend Paul has been salivating for years trying to find a rare gemstone called ferro-axinite, which is a beautiful translucent crystal with a chocolate brown hue. Unfortunately ferro-axinite is only found an about three places on planet earth. One source of the rare mineral is in rocks abutting the spillway of New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus River. Unfortunately digging tunnels and dynamiting along the base of the dam might just cause the biggest disaster since the time of Noah’s Ark.
While I often disagree with my government, I think they are being pretty reasonable when the prohibit activity that might destroy a hundred thousand homes. Poor old Paul may have to save his nickels for a trip to Siberia. Sorry Paul.
One of my favorite trout streams has a sizeable deposit of petrified wood and as I am wading I keep my eye peeled for hunks of the mineral. One day I stumbled across a rock that had shiny metallic crystals protruding from it. I thought I had discovered galena crystals but upon closer examination I discovered that the silver metallic crystals were really a mineral called molybdenum, which is more valuable than gold! While you can still stake a mining claim on National Forest and BLM lands, I just don’t have the heart to rape a beautiful mountainside just to get rich.
At any rate if you’re looking for a hobby that can really be rewarding for body, soul, and pocketbook you may want to try prospecting for rocks and minerals. Who knows maybe you’ll hit the Mother Lode!
Until Next Week - Tight Lines.
