OUTDOOR ROCK and MINERAL SHOWS part 6 The LAKE GEORGE COLORADO SWAP
LK GEORGE SWAP
To Rockhounds that collect Smokey Quartz and Amethyst and Topaz, there is no place in Colorado more famous than the Pikes Peak, Lake George, Crystal Peak area. We were out in Colorado in 1997 when the local Mineral club just started a small show in a town park at Lake George, population 100 or so. The small community is located on Hwy 24 about halfway between Colorado Springs and Buena Vista. This was a 3 day show a week after Buena Vista. They had about 25 swappers set up in RV’s and tents; no big dealers in this lot, just good old collectors and miners. The venue might have been small but the entertainment wasn’t. On Friday night they had square dancing on their tennis court with a live band. I even got dragged up to dance by a Peruvian mineral dealer and I hadn’t done any square dancing since grade school. The next night they arranged a bus trip into the casinos at Cripple Creek. It cost $15.00 each, but you got a scenic bus ride through the mountains and when you got to the Casino they gave you $15 to gamble with and meals were dirt cheap. One of our group won $ 750.00 in a slot machine while waiting in line for the meal. The one drawback, when we were given rolls of quarters, Donna grabbed them and proclaimed, “ This is my laundry money”. I played nickel slot machines all evening and broke even. Even the trip back to Lake George was interesting. I didn’t know that drunken Rockhounds could sing so loud and off key. The driver wanted to stop and kick them out, and I would have cheered him on.
LK GEORGE SWAPPERS
During the day we left for Cripple Creek. I had made a deal to buy a 25 pound box of small Quartz crystals off an Apache Indian from San Carlos Reservation in Arizona who had the dubious name of Fast Eddie. I asked the short stocky man if he was a runner, he laughed and told me he got his nickname because he liked to gamble. He made money fast and he lost it fast. I wanted to pay him then for the Quartz but he said wait until tomorrow. The next day he was Casino broke and my cash ended up paying for his trip home. He had started out sleeping in a motel but ended up sleeping on the floor of a small equipment shed in the park. One young miner had a large pile of the most ugly looking rock, several tons, that came from his claim in Utah. No one was interested, until he told everyone to come over that night to look at his rock pile. It turned out to be the brightest fleurescent minerals I had ever seen. Went to bed intending to get a few pieces the next morning but the pile was gone ; he had sold out during the night. Just proves the old saying, “He who hesitates is lost.”
This is a fun show with Field trips, and scads of local minerals to peruse and purchase. Inthe first photo, there is a hill in the background. I collected up there for Smokey Quartz and Amazonite. The area had a hill side covered in pits , sort of like a small Bear Lk Rd., but I didn’t find anything but a battered Swiss Army Knife that was buried about 2 feet down. I even saw a herd of mountain goats; they ran along beside the truck then up a hill, don’t see that every day.
If you are out in Colorado and have the time to collect Quartz and Amazonite, try to be there the 3rd weekend in August.The Rockhounds at the show are super friendly and who knows, one of them might be your next trip leader, to Cripple Creek.
