Arkansas, anyone??

The entrance of the 4-acre abandon mine area on Gardner Mountain- There is a pair of huge tailings-piles to either side of the mine entrance and the pit is strait ahead. The mound of red and white (grey and gray) here is to the left of the trail.I don't know anything about the mine, though many similar quartz operations were active in the 1980's; The National Forest adopted the area as a Crystal collecting one because of the amount of points loose on the ground.

Yes, Kansas City is frozen, but Crystal Vista is still crawling with such critters as spiders and grasshoppers! The small National Forest spot south of Mt Ida, AR was a welcoming 50+ degrees and sunny Saturday when I skipped out on the Cedar tree event. A coral berry-lookin bush stood taller than me on the edge of the dirt parking area. The clusters of berries on this bush were much larger and more colourful than those on our buckbrush; Any Idea? ?

Lots of daddy longlegs, Harvestman spiders, crawled over the crunchy trail and I was easily distracted by an orange ball of micro-spiders on a sunflower skeleton. There was less than two hours of daylight left and I didn't spend too much time photographing them.

Hiking up the steep Crystal Vista trail takes about half an hour. There are no buildings or structures of any kind and no water is available. The Crystal collection area is one of only two free areas available to the public and is the only one where you are allowed to dig. Other mines in the area, such as the Arrowhead and Wegner's crystal mine are private and collection requires a fee.

Only a very light wind brushes through the pine trees- The trees are what keep the Ouachita Mountains Green in December. The rest of the trees are Oaks and they are all bald.

Ferns keep some of the understory green. There is a good patch of them on the backside of the pile of mining debris to the right of the entrance and several more lower on the mountain. I spent enough time on my knees this evening to gather up a water bottle full of small points; The smaller piles on either side of the old road are an excellent spot to gather these. Many sparkling, brilliant points can be found on the trail just below the mine, but these rarely exceed one inch. Larger points are hard to find loose anywhere on Crystal Vista, but a worthy cluster of points is certainly not impossible!

'Haystack' and "Cactus" formations are beautiful and common here. Most of the crystals are very clear and nothing else can be found except for a Milky variety (No amethysts or Smokey Quartz)

I got back in time to gather a few armfuls of wood for a fire. I didn't notice the freezing temperatures until several hours after dark, when the warmth failed to travel as far from the flames as i needed it to. Temperatures in the mid-twenties were forecasted with northerly winds that never showed up.

My sleeping bag, a thick blanket and an extra pair of socks were enough to fend off any numb toes, but I did not expect what was the worst part of the night. December's temperatures and dangerous precipitation are to blame for the lack of campers in our part of the country. I have never tried it for such reasons, but these iffy factors are not what will discourage me from camping in December again.

I slept well for the usual seven or eight hours and woke refreshed, alert and excited for a full day of Crystals. The cold snapped at any exposed skin when I removed myself from the cozy bags and my frozen boots were a bit of a shock. I walked about for a few moments in the light and shadows cast by a bright moon, but I noticed no sign of dawn.

It is always dark when I wake in a tent, but I can be confident that sunrise is on its way! Not this time. An hour later and the sky only grew darker with the decent of the white moon. I found myself shoeless and back under the pair of chilled blankets which delivered more of a shock than when I originally left them for the icy night. I relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful sounds of the coyotes and owls and screeching tires that may accompany any Saturday night here... tossed and turned and tried simple math to calculate how much longer this frustratingly long night would last and the warmth seemed never to return to the tent. I noticed that though the fire was out, a thin cloud of smoke still hovered over the ashes and began to wonder how long it was that I had even been sleeping? Is it possible that the night is still young? I could not smell the morning; It was not in the air.

In fact, Saturday's disturbed night lasted more than fourteen hours. The moon set, according to a table Ive found online, around 1:18am and I had many, many hours before sunrise.

I got back to sleep, eventually, and any loss of sanity I experienced would surely be healed with a day on the mountain.A frost much thicker than that which I encountered in the dark coated everything as the MUCH anticipated sunrise began. It was a great relief and this sunrise was much more beautiful than it could have been after any summer night. The fragile ice frosted the edge of every fallen leaf and branch like gold in sunlight that spotted the earth through the trees. I did not hesitate to throw on my boots for a needed ascent. My legs had certainly waited long enough for the swift march- it felt as if I was shaking a crust that had accumulated with the irritating longevity of stillness and the night.

It was not long at all before the ground's frost disappeared and some very stiff Opiliones hugged any dark rock they could reach. I suspect that the lack of frost here, only a quarter-mile from the trail head, has more to do with a gain in elevation than it does with a dim sunrise.

I crawled around the mine area for only a few minutes before I spotted an old hole of mine. the small dig, high on a ledge opposite of the entrance, would be almost invisible if you didn't expect it. A thin slide of fine red clay marks the spot below the sandstone wall. The hole had been very productive on previous visits, but I am sure that it's treasures are taken.

(above) The "crack" in the sandstone that turned into a trio of fine pockets. The two holes seen here spilled out gallons of the 'reddest, greasiest' crystal-filled clay in the area. Each forfeited about fifty loose points and still display walls of intact crystals. Some of the nicer points, like the crystal BELOW, exceeded two inches in length and exhibit many marvelous highlights like rainbows, ghosts, intriguing faces and, off course, mind-blowing clarity!

... And taken they were; I shifted through the sandy material that was my spot and found nothing. A little further and a hopeful crack in the orange-tan sandstone became uncovered. I spent upwards of four hours slicing and dicing my hands in that crack with my favorite tool.

Mt Ida-area quartz operations have claimed many a pocket knife, I am sure. It wouldn't be too hard to go back and find bits and pieces of my own 'tools' that have disappeared into cracks and rocks similar to my new find. My pocket knife, however, stayed intact through three small pockets and a few feet of rock today. I collected only a few pounds of crystals from the trio of miniature caverns and left in the midst of the excavation of the largest cluster I have ever found here. I left in fear of splitting my hands worse than they already were on the razor-like shards that stick firmly from the walls of each hole and of the fear of injuring a beautiful plate of rock quartz.

that large, gorgeous cluster of crystals (above) sits exposed now for any creature to admire. I hope to return soon to reclaim my discovery: hopefully with something a bit more helpful than a knife.

As the crystals sit, now, they really do display a PERFECT example of a quartz pocket. Though I would love to be the one to have the treasure, it is a rare opportunity that no interested person should miss to see such a fine representation of the area's crystals. Anyone interested in finding the exposed pocket is welcome to contact me for directions to the sight. I will be back to find it again!

ATLANTIS FOUND is the name of one of Mt ida's larger crystal shops. Unlike the majority of rock shops that dot any highway leading to or from the town, Atlantis Found is not owned or affiliated with any mine. The quartz here is local and beautiful and the shops owner sells at nice prices, but I dont need to buy my crystals! I asked about collecting Wavellite on Mauldin Mountain and about some of the commercial mines that I spotted on Owley road. Mauldin mountain is now closed to collecting!? The old county quarry is famous for it's crystals, but the man here tells me that it has been closed due to overuse. He went on a short rant about how the NFS has been tightening regulations on Quartz collecting in the area, too. The NFS land, which is much of what surrounds the Quartz Belt, is now limited to only surface collecting and plans are in place to reduce the amout of material that can be removed. I'll have to visit the office next visit to get a more complete list of rules.

Had a long, pleasant drive home on scenic hwy 7 and US65.

The trips spoils! THIRTY-SIX hours, 800miles and a few dozen gems for my collection!