Orange Garnets in West Redding, Connecticut

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So hunting for orange garnets we were following the varied instructions from the web about an outcrop, located about half-mile from the West Redding, Connecticut train station.  Easy enough to set your GPS to “West Redding Train Station.” First thing we noticed was a cop car idling in the train station parking lot. We had not even begun excavating and they were after us already.
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Quartz and Pyrite Abandoned Mine Site in Ellenville, New York

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Joe and I had a great drive to the park that contains this quartz and pyrite abandoned mine, which is open to the public even though it is on park lands.  We got really lucky because a woman and 3 kids were coming down the path as we started and had come to a fork in the path.  So we asked them if they knew of the quartz and pyrite, and they pointed to take the path to the right, climb up of you adventurous on to the rocks, and see what you find.
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Rockhounding an abandoned mine on a golf course


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Now this rockhounding excursion is actually the site of the Southwest Chester and Brookdale mines, but sometime in the 20th century they were occupied by the present day golf course.  We had read that if you bring an offering, some unique mineral or gem to the owners, you are granted access to rockhound the remains of the mines.  Joe and I spent two weeks emailing back and forth about what gem would best represent @AmericanGeode, and what would impress the owners.  We chose a very large rough garnet from rockhounding excursion in Roxbury and a kyanite specimen that Joe had recovered from another PA site.  We went on a weekday, and also during the late winter/early spring as we expected fewer golfers would mean few inconvenience, and more access.
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