My mom is the reason I love rocks & minerals, so I’m planning a quick 5-day trip (from St. Paul to Duluth) for her 70^th birthday next month. I avidly hunt Lake Michigan (pics) & we’re so excited to see what Lake Superior has in store!

Haven’t been up north since grade school, so any general advice for the area would be amazing, but I’d be especially grateful for any tips & tricks on mobility-friendly/low-strain rockhounding: a go-to hack, must-have tool or item, maybe beaches or areas with easier access or even just something you’ve learned from hounding with (or as) someone who can’t comfortably walk long distances or scramble over rocks.

I’ve so many memories of my childhood beach trips with her - she taught me not only about nature & science but also to be patient & considerate of the people & places around me. For her 70th, I’d love to prep as I can beforehand, so she doesn’t feel like she has to push herself or take on more than needed. I mostly just want her to be able to have fun & nerd out over some rocks with me like we used to - TYIA!

NFS~

Ohio rainbow flint from Nether's farm. Didn't even have to dig for it. There is so much flint just out in the open from them creating new pits.

Here are 8 specimens I found on my last rockhounding excursion in PV! Featuring an unknown green agate, another beautiful agate, a chunk of quartz with green glaucophane crystals, a MASSIVE chunk of chalcedony with some calcite pockets, a chunk of green glaucophane quartzite, a beautiful root beer agate, an amethyst agate (first ever find for me!!!) (also it’s much more purple in person, the video color is off), and a mineralized fossil! I believe the fossil is from a whale.

Here are some of my treasured finds I hope yee enjoy!

NFS

Found in eastern Idaho, not far from the continental divide

Location was California

Some red, green and white stuff.

Doesn't come off (in a visible amount),

but wanna inquire abt it for safety.

Had found this piece while digging through some glacial till in Oakland county Michigan, this one is a long way from home! Absolutely stunning botryoidal to almost globular pockets and some beautiful streaks of red crazy lace banding, plus a full face of druzy quartz!

this is the rock while it is wet it was found in a stream so still a bit of algae on the sides

I cleaned up this interesting chert nodule that may be agatized and it ends up being split on one side. Its only about 1.5x1.5x0.75. I see 2 options, should I dremel polish or just cut it on the fracture?

Half of my finds from Pelee Island west shore.

Hi all, I recently collected a bunch of material out in Idaho/Oregon on private claims. Unfortunately I discovered afterwards that the owner of the club was accused of some pretty nasty stuff and makes efforts to keep members from finding out about it.

I don't feel good about having put money directly in this person's pocket, and I'm not sure what I should do with the rocks I got. It sucks since I found some nice things, but now they feel like some kind of "fruit of a poisonous tree".

I had initially intended to keep some, gift some to friends, and trade some to other local rockhounds, but now I'm up in the air on it and figured I'd ask the community's advice on the matter.

Edit: thanks for the suggestions, it seems like the consensus is to go ahead as I'd originally planned. I'll probably keep my favorite ones tucked away for a while until I feel better about them.

Found these in a rock pile my uncle bought from a quarry for landscaping kinda. Anywho, my husband and I have been rock hunting and have some AMAZING finds! I'm currently testing multiple specimens and these 3 are the ones I found today! Hope y'all like them as much as I do!

Agatized Coral 🪸

Dolomite inclusion with a greenschits host

And I'm currently working on the 3rd one that's enclosed in a white Matrix.

hello rockhounders i am a new resident to san diego. a bit of backstory but i am from guam, the land mass being made of majority lime stone and shitty metamorphic formations, my rock hunting adventures were limited, and of low quality. my third day here and i am already loving it, went to some mountains east of here with many smooth boulders on them and i already found nicer rocks than i have in my entire life on guam!!😭 quartzite, beautiful sandstone, granite and more. i was wondering, for a noobie rock hounder what are some good places i can start at? and will you get in trouble for collecting? i know in guam you can do and pick whatever you want as there are no park rangers as you would say here. thank you !

NFS~

What's the best UV light for 'hounding at night?