baringer hill minerals - private tours

Like many other people across the U.S., I've found myself captivated with the Weather Channel's reality show, "Prospectors," which features several rock hounds on the hunt to find gems. It wasn't long before a few Google searches informed me that blue topaz had been found on several ranches in Mason, TX. I was ready to go! However, as a total rock hounding newbie, I had no idea where to even start looking, what to do, or what topaz would look like in the rough. A minerals forum led me to a local man, Frank R., who leads groups out to several locations to look for different types of rocks. I was most interested in taking one of his trips to a ranch (where he has a lease) near Mason to look for topaz, strawberry quartz, and fluorites (see http://www.baringerhill.com/home, specifically, the Emerald Ridge link).So, we went and had a most enjoyable day. I think that Frank and the gang do a very good job of trying to manage expectations on their website (the trip went "as described"), but here's a bit more first-hand information about topaz hunting and the rest of the trip.First, before going, it's not a bad idea to do a little research on how to rock hound -- at least to the extent of reviewing pictures of the types of rocks you're looking for, and where these rocks tend to be found (i.e., do you have to chip them out, can you find them on the ground, etc.). I think I expected that we'd be given more instruction than we were. We met our trip leaders at the local Dairy Queen and then caravanned out to the dig site. Once there, we were given small buckets (to contain our dig limit) and basically set loose. That's probably the one suggestion I'd give to the tour operators. More instruction for newbies, like me, would've been ideal and very much appreciated. Further, it would've been nice if the trip operators had brought samples of each of the different types of rocks found out there -- just so you had an idea of what you were looking for. If you don't know what you're doing, it's not the end of the world, but you have to just sort of observe the more experienced rock hounds in the group to figure out what to do and what you're looking for. Thankfully, the more experienced rock hounds on our trip were super nice and happy to share info. In regards to the topaz, there's not a lot of it. If you happen to find something, you're either very skilled at knowing what to look for, or are extremely lucky. No one on our trip came back with any. If you're set on trying to find topaz (as we were), it's helpful to understand ahead of time that you'll basically be rummaging through the tailings of an active topaz mine, and even then, the active mine is on the site of an old topaz mine from the 1950s. So, this is not virgin ground. As an active mine, every so often another "vug" is opened/cleaned out, which often releases some nice topaz stones. The miners keep the nice, obvious stones, and the "tailings" are then shoveled into a pile for the rock hounding tours to sift through. Now, this isn't to say that people don't find topaz stones occasionally there -- apparently, they do. If you're a serious rock hound used to opening up your own vugs, I think this idea (and the fact that you aren't given an opportunity to open your own vug) might be a little discouraging. After a few hours of digging strictly for topaz (and coming up zip), I decided to give up and moved on to the fluorite and quartz crystals. Guess I'll just have to buy a Mason, TX, topaz!Ok, so there's not a lot of topaz to be found by the average Joe here. But, there is a ton of pretty fluorite and strawberry quartz. These are shiny, pretty rocks, especially once they're all cleaned up. If you've never found fluorite or strawberry quartz crystals, it's really very fun. For me, this was enough to feel I'd had a very good day of digging for rocks. There were several families with kids there, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it as well.A few other things. The tours are about 6 hours long. There are no bathroom facilities on the property, so you may have to go find a tree if nature calls. You're also quite a ways from town, so you'll want to bring plenty of sunscreen, lunch, snacks, water, etc. Bottom line -- a great time, and I definitely recommend it if you enjoy this sort of thing. I hope to go on one of Frank's other trips another time. I think the fee for the trip is reasonable, and about right.