Magnet Cove, Arkansas, August 30-31, Trip Report, from a pursuing perspective: As you know I did not go on the trip to Arkansas in June, the one you all said, Don went swimming in the creek. In June, Don and Claudette left the house at 4:00 am and got to the Burger King by 8:00 am no problem. Well, this Saturday we left the house at 3:30 am and got to the Burger King at 8:20 am and they had just left. But if Don has ever been to a place he can pretty much find his way back. So he decided to go to Jimmys house and talk to his wife to see where they went first. We did not know Jimmys last name or address but after two hours we found his house. His wife was not home. We had run off without Dons cell phone but we tried to call it to see if anyone was looking for us. But after several attempts we gave up on that idea. Next we decided to go to Magnet Cove and see if we could catch up with the group. We saw girls swimming, people on their four wheelers and Halliburton. We saw Pleasant Valley Missionary Baptist church talked to a man about where the creek was and he said go back the way we had come and go straight instead of going around the curve. We did, we saw the bridge and went a little farther and guess what we found Jimmy, Rick, Gary and Kathleen. Rick was the one in the water up to his neck. He didnt fall in. The only thing we missed was looking for the Novaculite. They were picking up iron pyrite by the hand full. I tried to fill my bucket before they left but had to give up and go with the group. Next we went to look for Barite Crystals, that was not as much fun and it was hot, so we didnt stay long. We ate some cantaloupe to help cool us off. Then we went to Jimmys house at 5:00 p.m. If anyone wants a kitten, Jimmy has about two dozen he would be glad for someone to take some. Kathleen wanted to look at his stuff for shaded quartz. We were going to go look for shark teeth but the place was covered in water. So the seven of us, Jimmys wife Wanda went with us and we went to the Hungry Fisherman to eat and then came home. We all had a good time. I am trying to expand my vocabulary with the words Novaculite, Barite Crystals Albite, Carbonitite, and Molybdonite. It is much easier to say those pretty rocks. Pat Everroad Matt, Steve & Fred Broken Bow 7/26-27/2003 Photo by: Leanne Sparks. FIELD TRIP REPORT The Broken Bow, Oklahoma, field trip July 26-27, 2003, organized by Bob Gamble, was a successful trip. The trip was well attended, and we all found plenty of water-clear quartz crystal points. The weather was hot but dry, and after making sure we put on plenty of insect repellent, we did not suffer from insect bites as we did on the Arkansas trip. We had twelve people on this trip: Gary and Kathleen, Don and Pat, Ernie, and Matt from our club; Leanne Sparks, from Mississippi, whom we met on the Arkansas trip; Jimmy Matlock, our Arkansas guide, and one of his friends; and Hans and his wife and son from the Arlington Club. We met in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Broken Bow, and then followed our guides, Steve Dew and Fred Bray, into the mountains East of Broken Bow. It took about forty-five minutes to get to the dig site. We were searching for quartz crystals with chloride inclusions. Most of us found samples of what we were looking for, but Hans and his son made the best find of several nice crystals with definite well defined green inclusions. Some of us worked hard in the sun doing hard-rock mining with hammers, picks, and chisels, and some stayed in the shade and sifted through tailings from earlier digs. Everyone found something to bring home. We drank lots of water and took a break in the afternoon with cold watermelon. This was a one-day trip and everyone came away happy and looking forward to the next trip. Matt Reiser Past President Broken Bow Lake Don Ernie, Kathleen, Hans, Wife &Son Jimmy Pat   Not the Pyrites of the Caribbean FIELD TRIP REPORT The Arkansas field trip June 28-29, organized by Bob Gamble, was a great experience for mineral and crystal collectors. During the two-day trip, we collected samples of seventeen (17) different minerals. There are many more left for a future trip. We started off by going to an abandoned barite mine and picking up some samples of barite ore and shale, but we didnt have time to go to the specific area for barite crystals; saving something for another trip. Then we stopped at a roadcut and collected brookite crystals. We could see smokey quartz in the same location, but we didnt have time to excavate for crystal pockets. Next, we went to another location known as "the bridge." There we found carbonatite and calcite with aegirite crystals. In that area we also found fluorapatite and vermiculite, and Rick Kaiser made the find of the trip with a crystal of eudialyte. Then it was on to a shady creek, great for a hot afternoon, where we found all the iron pyrite we could want. The pyrite was coated with molybdenite and could also be found with albite. Some people will just work harder than others. While everyone else was lazily picking up pieces reflecting sunlight from the bottom of the shallow creek, Don Everroad decided to go diving for specimens. About that same time, Frances Johnson decided to try the backstroke in her search for pyrite. Maybe they wanted to work hard, maybe it was the temptation of a cool creek on a hot afternoon, or maybe it was something else. Youll just have to ask them. That was all just on the first day. On day two, guide James Matlock took us to a private novaculite mine where we collected some great pieces for lapidary work, and many pieces had terrific dendrites. Next, Mr. Matlock took us to a private site where we took a long hike, but collected all the rutile and rutile paramorphs after brookite we wanted. We also found hematite and magnetite in that area. That was it for the second day, and we were pretty well worn out. We had planned to go back to the smokey quartz site, but we just didnt have enough time; it will still be there when we go back in August. Matt Reiser Past President