As mentioned in my previous post I spent the morning at “beautiful” Crystal Park Montana.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This site is located in the Pioneer Mountains of south central Montana and is specifically set aside for rockhounds to dig for quartz crystals. ?It really is located in a beautiful area.

Scenic meadow near Crystal Park.

I spent the night sleeping in the car. ?Not the most comfortable bed, but quite inexpensive. ?I was at the park before daylight and payed the fee. ?The fee is $5.00 a day, or $2.50 for holders of the Senior Pass. ?The digging is well worth the fee, which pays for the rest rooms and maintenance for the site.

I spent the first couple of hours digging in a previous hole, and found a number of nice smaller crystals.

Not the best I have ever found, but nice crystals.

I also spent some time just walking over the hill trying to find an area that was not dug up. ?No luck though so I went back to my original spot.

Not an pristine spot to be seen on this hill!

I planned to dig until noon and then head home, but as I checked out other areas I met Max.

Max near his great finds.

Max was up from Wyoming and had spent a few hours digging deep. ?He was rewarded by finding some really nice scepter crystals with amethyst and smoke. ?I decided to start in another hole near him and was also rewarded by finding a nice two inch long 1/4″ diameter smoky quartz crystal.

Here is the best of my finds this morning.

Nice looking but not huge.

I finally left at 1:30pm and made it to Idaho by 7:00pm, where I spent the night. ?I arrived home Saturday tired but happy.

Thanks for joining me.

chasfire