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After such a jam packed day, we decided that we would take it a little slower today. Tom (Tom Klinepeter, starkhillgem) suggested we go the Harvard Mine and then check out a couple nearby rockshops.

It was extremely humid, and the hike to the mine is pretty steep, so by the time we made to the bottom of the tailings pile.

After a brief rest, it was time to walk to the actual quarry.

We went to both collecting spots at the site, and we were pleased with the terminated schorl we were finding through out the dumps.

After the walk back down to the car, Tom, Justin and I headed down the road to visit Perham’s Jewlery, Gems & Minerals, in west Paris.

They have an on site museum of locally collected mineral specimens.

And we browsed their stock of of book, tools and minerals.

After which we drove a short distance to Mt. Mann Jewelers in Brethel, Maine. The proprieter Jim Mann is a well know Maine feild collector, and the driving force behind the creation of the Maine Mineral Museum, set to open in early next year.

Every location that we went to in Maine are scattered with Mica, so Jim showed us a lantern from the early 1900’s with still intact mica sheets for the windows.

On the way back to Tom’s house, we stopped and got a photo of us at the Maine crossroads sign.

Tom (Tom Klinepeter, starkhillgem) had a full day planned for us. We were trying to film 4 different locations for the Pegmatites of Western Maine Video. Lord Hill was to be our first place.

Lord Hill is located deep in the overgrown Maine woods.

So it was a slow, sweaty hike into the forest.

But soon we saw the piles of white rocks through an opening in the trees.

This particular spot is a quite rich in minerals. Topaz, beryl, mice, fedspar, and autunite are the minerals most commonly found there.

Before leaving for Deer Hill, Tom wanted to show us the lookout.

Deer Hill is a recreation fee collecting site.

We desposited our money at the self service pay center.

After a short hike we came to a clearing circled by trees with blue marks on them. This is the collecting area.

Deer Hill is a locality that requires work, persistance and luck to find something decent.

The third stop was the Chandler-Northstar Mine just over the New Hampshire border. The hike was short and we only stayed long enough to check out the area, and then head out to Mt. Apatite.

The last stop in our action packed day, was Mt. Apatite. This location was once a busy feldspar mine in the early 1900’s. It is owned + administered by the city of Auburn. It is open to the public for mineral collecting with hand tools.

But my favorite part was the tadpools.

For our Maine & New Hampshire stints Tom (Tom Klinepeter, starkhillgem) was going to be our guide, however on our first day he was busy, and unable to take us out collecting. Tom lives in Fryeburg, Maine, only a short distance from the New Hampshire border. So our first order of business was to get some breakfast in neighboring Conway.

Afterward we headed over to North Conway to visit Dondero’s Rock Shop check it out.

We chatted with owner Mitch Dondero and browsed his selection of local minerals.

Through out journies, we have been to quite a few rockshops, and we were pleased to see many cases of actual mineral specimens for sale.

Before we left a group of kids came into the shop, and mitch gave them a little lesson rocks and minerals.

It was just about that time that our buddy Dylan Stolowitz (Green Mountain Minerals) called us. After speaking awhile he suggested that we call his brother Nick in Vermont about visiting Eden Mills in Vermont, only 3 hours away. We decided to meet at his house which was only a short drive away from the quarry.

The Eden Mills Mine was an asbestos mine that was shut down after the demand diminished. This local is famous for its super gemmy grossular garnets, but we were excited to collect all the chrysotile and serpentine asbestosform minerals. Nick showed us the best one that he had found there.

We parked along a wooded area, and then took the short hike through the woods to the quarry.

While we didn’t find any garnets as good as Nick’s, we did find some pretty nice small ones.

And plenty of asbestos samples.

Nick also found some green crystals that we figure are either Vesuvianite or Diopside.

After spending a couple hours putzing around, it was time to drive back to Tom’s house in Maine.
On the way home we passed an interesting bowling ball pyramid in front of someone’s house.