On saturday July 12 the family went to Emerald Creek to dig for Idaho star garnets. Garnets are the Idaho state gem and according to very learned sources, the Idaho star garnet is a rare gem which is only found two places in the entire world-North Idaho and the country of India.
The gems are unique because of their deep purple color and the fantastic "rays" that appear when they are cut and polished. They are so unique and rare that 4 star and 6 star garnets are highly sought after. Often in the polishing of these rare gems a "moon" star appears, a unique reflection that inludes the star pattern and a moon pattern. These gems are prized by many and are considered to have magical properties.
Up until two years ago, anyone could go to Emerald Creek and dig for garnets in and around the stream beds of Emerald Creek, a river about 10 miles West of Clarkia, Idaho. The area was discovered in the early 1940's and early prospectors mistakenly thought the Garnets were a new form of purple emerald-from there the name stuck-and Emerald Creek got its name.
The land was privately owned and later purchased by local people and donated to the National Forest Service. The forest service has maintained this property since and anyone can go and "dig" for rare garnet gems.
We decided to do some "rock digging" and set out to Emerald Creek. The forest service now has a unique way of allowing anyone to get a chance at these rare gems. The forest service has hired geologists to find the best areas of the creek for gems and they hire a contractor to go and dig tons of dirt and clay and bring that fill to a common area. This was done to prevent all the "gopher holes" that were occurring in the river, the subsequent erosion, and general free for all that has occurred in the past when looking for gems. By depositing the "best" dirt and clay as determined by geologists, anyone can now go and fill their buckets up with dirt and search for gems.
Take a couple of buckets full of dirt from the dig site, go and sift the loose sand out, and take your clay covered rocks to the sleuice box and wash the rocks. look for those deep purple colored rocks, put them to the sunlight, and with a little luck you'll have a garnet.
It's not easy work. Getting your dirt in the bucket is certainly the easiest part, but when it comes to sifting, that's where the work starts. It is very time consuming and hard on the back. Once the sifting is done go have fun at the sluice box. Water is pumped from the creek into the sleuice box and this is where the fun begins. Finding the gems is fun and well worth it.
Take a look at the picture below of the digging operation and what a "RAW" garnet looks like. Then take a look at some polished garnets and you'll see why people want to get these beautiful gems.
Pretty soon you will become what is known as a "Rockhound".
Well the Navarro family are now official "Rockhound's"
