Pickin' Peridots Kilted

[Norm]

Another kilted rock hunt under my belt (pun intended). My friends John, CJ and I took a trip down to the San Carlos Apache rez and met with an Apache man named Stevie Joey who owns a peridot mine near the town of San Carlos. We made an appointment with him, paid the rez fee and he took us to his peridot mine to look for the green gems.

Of course I went wearing my tan colored UT Kilts utility kilt, and it was perfect for the task. Had to do a lot of kneeling down and squatting to go through the gravels to find the gemstones, but the kilt was great for the task. Despite the various kneeling and squatting positions, it kept me decent and cool in the 80 degree heat. Stevie remarked that in the summer it gets above 100 degrees while he is working the rock face for peridots. I suggested he get himself a utility kilt for the task. He replied that he did not want to be expelled from the Apache reservation. Hmmm... I took it as a joke.

There is a lot of nice green peridot at this location, but you have to be diligent to find the gem quality morsels, which I did. See the attached photo of the ones I found; I put them in an empty Altoids tin. The other photo shows me, Stevie and my friend John. And the other photo shows how the peridot forms in the black lava rock.

It was a fun trip, and the kilt held its own wonderfully. Lots of good ventilation and freedom of movement, especially walking over uneven terrain. Now... just gotta facet those gemstones!