Holy smokes this looks like the funnest trip I’ve found so far! Every year in Trona, California hundreds of people gather for the one of the biggest gem hunts of the year. If you like gems and crystals, digging through mud, and generally having a great time… this one if for you! It only
cost $15 – $20 per car depending on what your after and where you dig.
A little excerpt from the Trona Gem Club website:
For many visitors, the pink halite field trip is the highlight of the weekend.
This field trip starts new each year because the field trip area floods each winter. Any pink halite in the collecting area left behind after last year’s show is dissolved in this water. The photograph below, looking south from the main road intersection on the field trip, shows the collecting on February 26, 2000. Clearly, both sides of North-South Road are flooded with no dry surface.
Over the course of the hot, dry summer, the water evaporates from the surface of these ponds, providing an opportunity for salt crystals to grow slowly. Under these slow crystallization conditions, individual salt crystals can become quite large – up to 2 inches across. READ MORE
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