New Mexico is an amazingly rich world of geology. Mountains, crystals, landforms and fossils are everywhere and there for the exploring. Our adventure involved a hunt for staurolite crystals… stauros, meaning “cross,” and lithos, meaning “stone”… “cross stone.” The unique shape of these crystals, often “twins” at 60 degree angles, makes them truly unique. There is a more rare configuration where the twins are perpendicular. That we were seeking crosses in the desert on Easter weekend seems somehow appropriate.
Kelly’s thoughts…
An online blog post led me to the site. Some sleuthing led me to find a forest road, but the road crossed a section of private land and there was a gate. So… we needed a different way. The blog post indicated that the way they found the site was by a stiff climb out of the canyon above the Rio Grande, so we decided to give it a go.
At the parking area a fellow (Sam) and his lovable pale lab (Topaz) pulled in at the same time as us. Right away he indicated he was an amateur geologist and a chat indicated he was after staurolite based on the same blog post we had found. What an odd coincidence! We got on the trail a bit before he and Topaz did.
The view across the Taos plateau was amazing. We could see the Rio Grande Canyon, Taos, Wheeler Peak, Pedernal, and as far north as the snow-covered southern Sangre de Cristo mountains in Colorado. After a long, steep climb (we were glad to be doing it in the cool springtime) we topped out. A walk along the same road we would have driven on to get there led us to the site.
We search and hunted and sought. I had misremembered that the staurolite was “below the road” when the post said “south of the road,” so it took us a while to find it. In the meantime I found what is evidently an American Indian stone drill or perforator. This was laying in some soil and is one of the coolest artifacts I’ve ever found. We also found a large, broken piece of stone containing a rich concentration of chrysocolla, a brilliant green-blue mineral.
But then we found the deposits of staurolite. They were extremely abundant, though much of what we found were bits and pieces. But among them were many “twins” and other fine pieces. Staurolite is hard, 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale, and resistant to weathering. It’s not widely used for industry or as a gemstone, but it is wonderfully unique. Many of the pieces we found still have matrix attached, and I hope to be able to remove some of that and expose the unusual shape of the crosses.
After a steep climb down we took a long loop through beautiful New Mexico high country across to Mora, south to Las Vegas, along the Pecos River, and then home. It was a lovely and much needed day of hiking, rockhounding and adventuring. My kiddos and I have loved rockhounding for many years… it’s so lovely to have Riki enjoying similar pursuits together with me.
Riki’s thoughts…
I fell in love with northern New Mexico almost as soon as I drove across the Colorado/New Mexico border for the first time, and it was a treat to spend the day exploring the area with Kelly and the dogs. The weather was beautiful, cool and breezy, so it was perfect for such a challenging hike. Even the dogs were pushed a bit hard, finding a shady spot to rest every time Kelly and I stopped to catch our breath. It felt like quite an accomplishment when we finally crested, and the young Sam had not overtaken us. The feeling of accomplishment increased when he admitted that he thought it was a difficult climb, as well. On the way down, the good feeling was slightly gone when we met two people hiking up the trail, loaded with knives and guns and extra ammo, especially when I noticed that the young woman was hiking the trail in rubber muck boots. New Mexico is full of such interesting people!
I have been fighting a cold this weekend, but I knew that getting out into the fresh air and sunshine would make me feel better. However, when we got to the rock hounding site, I will admit to spending a few minutes laying in a sunny spot while Kelly and the dogs started the search without me. After a short rest, I was ready to join in. I honestly had no idea what we were looking for until Kelly showed me the first ones he found. But then I was able to look with a bit more focus.
The hike down reminded me of my belief about hiking that up is harder, but down is scarier. It seemed that every rock was trying to trip me. But we made it down without any falls or twisted ankles, victory! The drive home was amazing!! We enjoyed our tour through four lovely river valleys, the Rio Grande, the Rio del Puebla, the Rio Mora, and the Pecos River. The rivers were all high with the recent snowfall. Kelly is anxious to see if there are fish in them, which will give us more reason to go back up for future adventures. NNM, we love you sooo much! We will be back soon! Stay
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