We had ten hardy souls who showed up at the Vulcan Stringfield Rd. Quarry yesterday. Four others had to cancel ahead.
We had a van rented from McCurry in Athens, which held us (sort of) comfortably.
There was light rain at the start which gradually faded.
We started at the top to get a feel for the scale of that enormous pit – 600’ top to bottom.
There were some fossils there, most embedded firmly in the huge boulders (the Archimedes Bryozoan – look very closely in the photo) but some could be collected (blastoids and a shark jaw).
Then we went to the bottom to look back up at those tall sheer walls, and hunted crystals in the boulders. There was plenty of calcite and dolomite, some of which could be collected. A few pockets contained very nice fluorite, some of which were collectible but the best wasn’t – see the photo. The yellowish fluorite was about 1.3”x1.5” by ¼” thick, with several dark purple bits scattered through the pocket.
After a couple of hours we had about exhausted our prospects for new discoveries and headed out of the pit.
The muddy van was thoroughly cleaned by Jerry & Judy Osmundson.
The guide promised he could host a future return, and he would serve some of his famous barbecue prepared in his Shuttle-shaped cooker.
We shall see.
Bill Friday
Did You Know?
April: Diamond – The hardest gem of all is made of just one element – carbon. Diamond is valued for its colorless nature and purity, but pink, brown, and blue diamonds are also prized. Most diamonds are over a billion years old; formed deep within the earth. Source: 
