OUTDOOR ROCK AND MINERAL SHOWS part 5
MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND
The CONTIN-TAIL ROCK AND GEM SHOW in Buena Vista Colorado is one of Colorado’s largest outdoor shows and I have had the privilege to attend it 4 times. The show is set up in the parking lot of the local rodeo grounds; spaces about 50 by 25 feet are marked out, with allowances for roads in between.They usually get around 150 dealers. The dealer or swapper can park his RV and vehicle on the site, set up his own tables, tents, shelters and sell for 4 days, on the 2nd weekend in August.
I don’t want to sound like some hack from the tourist bureau, but the show is situated in a long beautiful valley, surrounded by mountains, at about 9,000 feet, the air is dry, warm in the daytime, cool at night. Many California, Arizona and Texas people camp there in the summer, to avoid the heat. The town is a short drive south of Leadville and the mining district. The first year we went there was in 1990, and not knowing any better I set up and sold Ontario minerals and Herkimers I brought with us. I learned a few things that year; don’t spend all your cash the first few hours your there. Don’t set the tongue of your trailer up in a fire ant hill! Don’t step on the tiny Cactus, they can be nasty.
TABLES OF PETRIFIED WOOD
It was the best trading I had ever done, as most of the other swappers were retired rockhounds that went from show to show selling what they collected and there were also many local miners. I did well on the Loonies; they were new then and those Americans wanted to buy them, so I sold them for $ 2.00 US each, with the difference on the dollar I was getting around $ 2.80, unfortunately I only had 1 roll. I found if I grabbed a box of rocks and walked around I usually found someone willing to trade. I got around 25 pounds of slabbed cutting material for about 20 small Apatite crystals. The highlight of the trip for me was a field trip from the show, to Mt Antero. For a person that lives a scant 300 feet above sea level to have the opportunity to collect at 14,259 feet doesn’t come along every day. Never mind that it gave me the worst headache in my life from the altitude and the switchback drive up Antero scared the heck out of me, but that’s another story. To my great surprise Donna had sold all the remaining minerals, while I was up on the mountain.
In 1991 we went again but I only brought a few things with me because they changed how they ran the show: they wanted us to pay multiple taxes. So we just parked our trailer by the grandstand and bought some minerals, I learned one thing, don’t spend all your cash the first few minutes of the show. I again went up Mt Antero and this time I found an Aquamarine crystal. It seemed strange to be 80 degrees at the show, but 15 miles away and 1 mile higher, it was 32 degrees up on Antero. If you go to Colorado in the summer and want to climb mountains take a warm winter coat with you.
BUENA VISTA VIEW TO THE SOUTH
We went again in 1997 and 2007, the show has changed from the earlier years. It had changed from being run by the Colorado Mineral Federation,instead, several mineral people from Grand Junction bought the rights to the show. There are now more professional dealers, and with over 150 vendors, there is an excellent mix of finished products, slabbing material, and minerals, but still there are many rockhounds selling their excess minerals and cutting rough. We joined our old friends Doc and Helen from Colorado, who we had first met at the Bancroft Gemboree and had a wonderful time. We ended up camping with them for 4 weeks, but that is also another story. If you are intending to vacation in Colorado in August, take the time to go to scenic Buena Vista and visit a truly excellent mineral show.
