Remember our gem hunt in Opal Canyon?

Opal Canyon, Jan. 18, 2011.

Three years today we went hiking in Opal Canyon at Red Rock Canyon State Park north of Mojave, California! It is a gem trail on which we searched and dug for opal and other cool rocks.

Our hike began with a drive down a desert jeep trail to the edge of an dry wash. We then hiked up the arroyo to various fossil sites.

Once at the sites, you helped me chip away at the rock with my geologist's hammer. We found some great gems, and I still have them in a box, all labled for you (I will show them to you one day!)!

Here's a bunch of pictures from our adventure!

Finding fossils, gems in Opal Canyon

Two years ago today we took a hike into Opal Canyon. Located in Red Rock State Park about 35 minutes north of where we lived in Lancaster, Calif., the canyon is most famous for its opal gems, but three sites also have been known to yield 7-million- to 12-million-year-old fossils.

We went opal hunting but kept our eyes out for fossils as well. You enjoyed tapping away at the shale with my geologist’s hammer as we looked for some cool finds.

And we did find some stuff! One was a fossilized impressions of tiny leafs and an opalized bone fragment in a chunk of shale. I also found a partially opalized bone fragment from a piece of shale; it looks vaguely like a tooth. I still have the fossils and gems and will show them to you one day!

Here’s a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!