The McRocks 2012 field trip to the Eureka prospect could not have gone better. A high temperature of 72-degrees under a partly cloudy sky each day, a group of enthusiastic and friendly diggers and a bounty of excellent specimens made for a perfect outing. The Eureka prospect provides opportunities for rockhounds of all experience levels from surface picking to spoil pile digging to hard rock mining in a muddy pit. From what I could see through my mud splashed safety glasses, there were nothing but smiles all around the entire weekend. South end of Pit North end of Pit While Chrissy and I were digging in the pit, I looked up and noticed Li Liu and Youde Jiang taking turns posing with Opal for pictures as if she was a canine celebrity. As Li Liu would later write in an email message to me after I asked her for a copy of her pictures, "yes, we enjoy the trip! it was the first time for my husband and i went to dig something, it was exciting! Opal is a nice dog, i have a cat, i like dog." You gotta love it!

Youde Jiang & Opal, west edge of pit

Li Liu & Opal

Youde Jiang & Opal

The following is a sampling of the treasures that I, with great help from Pete Stoeckel, recovered by digging, prying and banging the good old-fashioned way. Click on each specimen picture to enlarge.

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