Agate Hunting

I went agate hunting a couple weeks ago at the Master Naturalist Conference. We learned about agates first at the Agate Interpretive Center at the Moose Lake State Park. Agates are formed by the bubbles left when a lava flow hardened. Into the bubbles came a water mixed with dissolved chemicals like silica and iron ore. Iron ore is what makes the Lake Superior agates reddish. As the water poured into the bubbles, the chemical rich water formed layers in each bubble, creating hard and beautiful agates. After we learned about agates, we were taken to a gravel pit. They dropped us off and told us we had one hour to find agates. The naturalist told us to look for rocks with pits that looked like potatoes. So I looked for rocks with pits that looked like potatoes. Do you know how many rocks in a gravel pit look like potatoes? Millions, that is how many. I turned over hundreds of potato imitating rocks. My back started hurting from bending over so I used the tip of my cane to poke the rocks out of the gravel and turn them over. The weather was sunny but the wind was very brisk and I don't think the temperature reached above the 40's. I talked to another guy who said this would be a lot more fun if we had a little success. I agreed. After a half hour, I was ready to give up. I actually thought about walking back to the bus and taking a nap out of the wind for the last half hour. Along came another master naturalist who asked me if I had found any. I told her no. She had a small baggie of little stones. She generously gave me 3 small agates so I would know what to look for. These didn't look like potatoes. Her agates were cream colored or maroon. She had tiny agate chips. We looked down at my feet and suddenly, I saw the agates. They were everywhere! The next half hour flew by and I was disappointed that it was time to go. I had a small baggie of two dozen agate chips by then. It is true - a little success is more fun when it comes to agate hunting.