November Adventures
It's Mineral Season!  The weather is cooperating nicely, and the shows have started! 
Black Canyon City's Bragging Rock Club, who are the nicest bunch of rockhounds you might ever get to meet, held their Rock-a-rama November 12, 13, and 14.  Darrel and I made it

best ones, but I was able to find a nice octahedron for my own collection.  We saw Barry Murphy getting an eyeful of the bargain tidbits at Bit of USA.  Barry mentioned that he was heading out to collect the next day at the Barqueing Spider Mine, down by Hayden, and I thought that sounded like a good plan.  A nice lady tracked me down as I strolled along the row, and

out there on Saturday morning, and were glad to see so many of our friends.  Barb and Sal Amato were set up under a shady tree at the west end of the show, giving everyone a comfortable place to visit when the afternoon sun was beating down!  The temperature was in the 90's that

weekend, with bright sunshine making the minerals sparkle and flash.
A Bit of USA had the usual WIDE selection of real bargains, maybe not for the elite collector, but perfect for the school kids that I enjoy talking minerals with.  I picked up some nice Mexican Garnets and Vesuvianites for pennies apiece, Sphaelerite and Calcite from the Sweetwater Mine, Native Coppers from Michigan (one looks like a little dragon, I'll bring it to the Annual Meeting for you to see), and some really cool Twinned Quartz crystals, all at prices that allow even a tightwad like me to be giving them away!
My pal Ken Dunham was there with his buddy Dave, and he had a big selection of old Mining magazines as well as his economical Mineral specimens, always good values.  Ken and Darrel decided to go to lunch, as the club had put together Ham, Chili, Potato Salad, and a selection of delicious baked goods.  I took a quick  stroll around the show before I joined them.  I saw Walt Johnson down the way, and we are still talking about getting out to Southeast Arizona, the Iron Cap, Dogwater, and Washington Camp.  Walt told me that a lot of the land down there is being surveyed and sold in 40 Acre parcels.  I wouldn't mind owning a Summer cabin with a mine.

told me I had won the Door Prize!  There was a selection of jewelry from which I picked a silver and turquoise ring.  Thanks, you Braggers!

When I got home, My wife told me she would like to go spend some time with her parents on Sunday, which left me free to collect with Barry.  Barry picked me up about 8:00, and we headed toward Superior.  Just after we turned on to the highway to Hayden, I showed Barry the Olsen Mine.  We found a couple of Wulfenites on the dump, and maybe some other micro things.  None of the little gemmy Vanadinites were out on the surface that day, and we weren't really prepared to go digging, so we packed up and headed on down the road, past the Ray Mine, to the Barking Spider.

Many of you may know the legend of the Barking Spider, and how a well respected local Collector and a companion spent a long day digging in the close proximity of the adit for Wulfenites coated with Druzy Quartz, and how they kept hearing the mysterious call of this rare and solitary underground creature, the Spider that Barks like a Dog.  Fortunately, this creature is relatively harmless, so many lovely specimens from this locality do grace the Arizona Collectors' cabinets. 

This was Barry's first soree underground, and I figured the Finch was the place to make this milestone, as it had also my Virgin intrusion into the upper crust of Mother Earth.  The ventilation is good, and the adit is fairly short and solid, and this locality is always productive, especially for a collector like Barry.  He gets so excited about every little crystal anyone finds!  Micromounters never get stiffed.  I showed Barry the cool zone just inside the adit where I always expect a Rattle Snake to be lounging, and though there was none present, I

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I went to lunch myself, looking forward to a Ham Sandwich and a big bowl of the Rockarama Chili, which smelled as tasty as I remembered.  They made me sign up for a door prize before they would let me in to eat, so I did, you bet.  After eating and visiting for a bit, we went back out into the melee. Sal came and grabbed me, saying there was a fella selling a bag of gemmy Spinel crystals from Burma at their space, for a buck each!  By the time I ambled over, Barb had picked out the

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