Spelunking aka Caving near Rock Canyon

There are a few small caves around the Rock Canyon area.  One is right next to the trail on the north side of the canyon.  But on Thursday, a friend of mine took me to see a much less-well-known gem.


Here you can see our meanderings...we took the, umm... "scenic route" to finding the cave.  By that I mean, we went straight up the mountain and across a couple ravines before we finally gave up and headed back down, at which point we found the cave maybe 30 meters from where we started.

Fall colors in March?

Lichens!

As we are coming down...oh THERE it is!

The entrance

Tight squeeze

I'm actually proud of myself.  I am a bit claustrophobic and I was worried that I would get in there or half-way in and have a freak-out.  Almost backed out but pep-talked myself, "you can do hard things...it will be worth it."  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and quickly shimmied myself inside.  The payoff was immediate and well worth pushing through my fear.  These pictures don't come close to doing it justice because they were taken using an iPod and a flashlight. lol

Opens up big enough to stand

Tiny stalactites

Dripping stalactite

Glassy yellow deposits on the wall - minerals? Bacteria excrement?

Green deposits on wall

Coming out took a lot more wiggling, but was less scary than going in. :P

 This cave looked natural except the back ended so abruptly I wonder if it had been dug out at least partly.  Really not sure.  But it was very cool.

Christmas Minerals!

I got in my stocking a really cool clear Calcite crystal, and an amazing Bismuth crystal!  I have never seen or heard of these before, they are so awesome!  Here's a pic I got from amazingrust.com.  My sample looks just like this on the bottom.  On top it's like a cluster of pyramids that are beautifully colored.

Isn't that cool!?  The outsides of the crystal grow faster than the insides, making it a hollow square spiral.  The metal oxidizes on the outside which is what gives it the coloring.  (Read more about it at http://amazingrust.com/experiments/how_to/Bismuth_Crystals.html).

Rock Collection Identified

I got my unknown rocks and minerals identified today, thanks to Emily.  She has amazing knowledge with this.

I will upload some pictures later, I'm too tired right now.  I have a Beryl, Galena, Pyrite, Calchopyrite (spelling is probably off), white and black pumice, tuff, opal, travertine, chrysocolla, chalcedony...some of those I've never heard of.  I'm impressed that Emily could ID them so quickly and confidently.  So excited to have a great start to my collection. :)

My very own rock collection!

Today was the coolest.  I got to go help some people from the UVU Earth Science Department pack up a bunch of museum-quality rocks that a lady donated.  Then I got to pick out what I wanted from the rest of the collection (the NOT museum quality).  I got some awesome stuff!  A few of them I haven't identified yet, so hoping to take those in to school and get someone to help me with it.  But I got some great rocks and minerals-  pyrite, quartz, coal, pumice, granite, galena, malachite (I think), mica, gypsum, petrified wood and geodes.  SO dang cool.  I need to go find myself some Halite at Great Salt Lake this week to add to the collection.  I think I've just created a monster- the start of a collection means I'll now be an official rock hound whenever I'm out.  Yippee! :)  Oh oh, and I got some bleached coral as well. :)