Rucks Pit still viable?

[digit]

Reading back through the TFF archives I've learned a bit about Rucks Pit in retrospect. Apparently, this was once a hot place to go fossicking for fossil clams with dogtooth golden calcite but, as I understand it, the original owner had health issues and sold the property. It seems the grandson (Eddie) has resurrected this locality and there now seems to be an address a couple blocks from the former location where there are piles of material that can be searched. I've read that this location is not as productive as it used to be (a common story of many long time sites) and I'm wondering if anybody has been to the new site (Fort Drum Crystal Mine) lately? If so, did you find some interesting specimens and did it seem worth the effort/price to hunt there? The location is just two hours from my house and it might provide a novel hunting experience and something different to look for which is always fun.

 

I may end up going regardless and would post my thoughts to the forum if I do. I just figured I'd check to see if any other TFF members have been recently.

 

http://www.thefortdrumcrystalmine.com/

 

https://www.facebook.com/The-Fort-Drum-Crystal-Mine-497100650319718/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[CBOB]

Hey Ken

 

I can give you my experience with the crystal mine.  I went twice last year.  The first time I went back in June with my fiancé at the time and was really fun.  I called Eddie a few days before our arrival.  Basically its $60 a person to dig all day.  You pretty much keep anything you want, clams/crystals and any chunks of matrix for landscaping.  We arrived at 9am and didn't really bring much as I didn't know what to expect or if we would really find much.  Eddie is really a nice guy and is definitely passionate about his crystal clams.  Since it was our first time he gave us a little lesson on how to dig and what to look for.  He then asked if we would like to see some of his past finds and collection (not from the new location but from the original quarry).  He took us in the barns on site there and they are filled with tables of crystal clams and other fossils found including mammoth, whale, horse, and some petrified palm wood.  He had some real cool stuff.  After our tour he let us start our digging.  We were the only ones there for the day and Eddie let us have the grounds to ourselves.  He said stay as long as we wanted and to lock the gate behind us.  

He has shovels, hoes, potatoe rakes, and hand tools pretty much laying around everywhere that we just used.  There are hoses all over too.  The way to "dig" for the clams is to basically spray dig and use the hand tools to scrape the mud away looking for the honey color crystals or the white clam shells.  The real quarry is miles away and he just takes the material from there and dumps the material in piles at this location.  I've read that its harder to find real pristine and large specimens as the back hoe he uses can damage the clams in their original resting place but we found plenty of cool stuff.  There is little shade out there so gear up like you would digging in the Peace River all day- large brim hat, clothes you can get dirty in, bad shoes, and gloves.  Bring a cooler for food and drinks.  There is also a bathroom on site too.

 

Here's pics of the site.  The dirt mounds are what you are digging in.

 

 

We probably dug for about 6 hours and loved it.  I think we found a bunch of good stuff there.  I know $120 is steep for 2 people but we walked away with a lot of loose crystals, crystal clusters, and a lot of cool crystal clams.  You can also find Welk shells with crystals but are more rare and we found a few partials of those too.  And it was kind of cool having the place to ourselves.  I never took pics of all our finds but here's some of the pics I found from it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CBOB]

Our second trip was last December.  My wife and I went back for another round at the clams.  We found just as many if not more crystal clams.  I found a few larger pieces of matrix with a few crystal clams still attached.  Another successful hunt.  I'm sure I will be back again in the future.  Eddie is really a nice guy and where else can you find these cool clams???

 

Here's pics from our time in December.  We found so much more than the pics but you get the idea.

 

 

 

 

Let me know if you have any other questions!  My vote is GO!  Check it out!

 

 

Chris

[digit]

Nice!

 

Thanks for the recon. Looks like there is still enough to make this an experience worth having. Since they are open 7 days a week I'll just have to find time in my schedule to drive up and get some honey-filled clams.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken