Another beautiful, invigorating, peaceful, and successful trip to Herkimer! We had a wonderful trip, with gorgeous weather, and lots of amazing finds! Check out my photos from this past weekend's adventures.
So happy to have my two favorite mining partners with me.
Tarps are used to cover up parts of the claim, to keep water from collecting in the deeper spots. A little froggy friend was keeping us company!
We found that many crystals had collected in a bed where water had previously run, so I used my three-prong garden tool (that we call the "claw") to excavate the area.
Here's a crystal just waiting to be found, can you see it?
After clawing through the dirt we run it through the sieve, to catch any crystals we might have missed.
Shakedown even got in on the action! Having never once dug a hole since we adopted him in February, he decided to start digging. I investigated the area where he dug his first hole, and it turned out to be a sweet spot with many crystals in the area. The next time he dug, we really watched him closely, and to our surprise he dug out and sat on one of the best finds of the trip!
On our hikes to and from the claim we saw many beautiful things, including these flowering burdock plants! We kept Shakedown away from these, otherwise they would stick to his fur just like velcro (which by the way, was the inspiration for velcro in the first place!).
As you can see, I'm a very happy camper when I'm in the woods looking for Herkimers!
Speaking of happy campers, we absolutely love where we camp on our visits to the region, the Crystal Grove Campground. Here's a view from our tent.
One of the special treats about visiting this area is their sweet maple candies...
as well as the bucolic scenery, like this Amish one-room school house in a field of hand-gathered straw.
When we returned home we emptied our little satchels in anticipation of washing each crystal. What a collection!
Once you've wet the crystals, sometimes they are so clear and perfect that they are hard to see! Here's a stunning one that's still a little sudsy, mid-wash.
We're hoping to make it back again this year, but just in case we don't we treated this trip like our last 'til spring, even spending nine hours at the mine one day! Though mining for Herkimers is hard work, it is also incredibly rewarding and energizing. I can't wait to go back!
Loved seeing your mining pics and Shakedown really “digging” it, too!
The Amish one-room school with hay field photo captured my interest and I’m sure you know why. Good luck with your fall shows!
Your blog post makes me want to drop everything and get out to the dirt in Fonda. Thanks for the inspiration! Maybe Shakedown will be to crystals what some French and Italian dogs are to truffles!
Great video and beautiful scenery! I’m sure that you will make some beautiful jewelry with your new finds!
So glad to see you two enjoying Nature’s bounty. And Shakedown too!
Laurie Lynn Berezin
Author