Rock puppy

Our continued exploration of our home state took us to Herkimer, NY yesterday. We went to the Ace of Diamonds Mine to prospect for Herkimer diamonds, which are clear double-terminated quartz crystals. Herkimer is in the lovely Mohawk River valley, and the subtle signs of spring emerging along with a sunny, warm day made for a beautiful day to be outside.

It was the first mining weekend of the year and the rock hounds were in abundance. Let's just say it was mainly an earthy crowd (no pun intended, really) and I felt downright Republican in comparison, a rather frightening thought for me.

Aidan quickly took to the concept of smashing rocks to look for crystals:


Both Aidan and James spent a good part of the day climbing around the piles of rock:


I did a little digging and hammering, but mainly just enjoyed the gorgeous day:


Aidan liked that he could get as dirty as he wanted and "whack something and not get in trouble". We were all dirty and sweaty when we got home, but we had a great time. And we came home with a bagful of pretty quartz crystals - a very nice little haul.