Day 7
There’s a beautiful little peninsula at the end of the Tunugdliarfik Fjord which is a virtual wonderland. Easy to collect, minerals everywhere, 10” crystals of aegrine lie on the ground where they weathered out of the syenites. We are planning on a day trip there as our last outing before I leave. But – the Greenland weather Gods have taken note that my legs are no longer an active part of my body, and they grant me a reprieve. Rain and wind forces an “off-day”. It gives me a chance to sort through the 140 KILOS of rocks I have hauled off these mountains over the past 5 days. Lee came over to divide up the previous day’s find at Tasaq, and we made it a rock packing party.
I picked out what I thought were the most interesting pieces to carry back in my luggage, and packed the rest for shipment by boat. I had no idea how exhausted I was – I needed the time off.I packed up a few pieces of the more dramatically FL tug, most of the fragile sorensenite crystals we collected (along with the 6 kilo museum piece), a bunch of unknowns, quite a few smaller pieces of gemmy tug. The rest went on the boat.
Saturday I said my good-byes, lugged my heavily loaded suitcase to the helicopter and started the long trip back to Miami.
This was a great trip – lots of new finds, some really hard but rewarding work, and some great times with fellow rockhounds. Already making plans for next year!
View a few more Pictures....
Remarkable new finds this season:
“Crazy” Tugtupite – wonderfully multi-color specimens with a dramatic phosphorescence. Mostly from the Tasaq Slopes area, some from Kangerdluarssuk.
Sorensenite – Bright yellow crystals, some quite large in size. Two large museum specimens of this rare mineral. Found in the Kvanefjeld area.
Multi-color Sodalite – 3 and 4 color sodalites, yellow under natural light, many tenebrescent.
Polylithionite – A nice selection of well crystallized plates from the Kangerdluarssuk area.
Kilos of “to be identified” minerals, all with bright FL colors.
Note: Most new material is being shipped by slow boat and will arrive towards the end of Sept. I will be posting some of the new finds I brought back in the next week or so.
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