On the Search for Gems and Purple Sand
Gems such as garnet, rhodonite, and nephrite jade stud the mountainsides in veins. Drenching winter storms pound them from the earth and wash them onto the beach, where they mix with those from offshore reefs that jade divers explore.
I drove through the mist toward Limekiln State Park—lime the silica ingredient of the gem rhodonite—and its purple sand beaches of California—purple from the second rhodonite element, manganese. The hostile landscape had slid almost two years earlier and closed off the park, but I found a non-official beach and shuffled among the low-tide rocks.
I drove through the mist toward Limekiln State Park—lime the silica ingredient of the gem rhodonite—and its purple sand beaches of California—purple from the second rhodonite element, manganese. The hostile landscape had slid almost two years earlier and closed off the park, but I found a non-official beach and shuffled among the low-tide rocks.
In Big Sur's No Cell Service Areas
Near a huge driftwood pile, my fingers felt a silk-smooth, pink stone shot through with black—gem-quality rhodonite. Its smoothness flags it as a gem, but rockhounds disregard it as granite because the online rock identifiers ignore the sense of touch. In these Big Sur no cell service areas, there’s no way to immediately look up information.
I encountered a green rock with pink undertones. A curl of purplish-orange manganese garnet tracked down one side of the crystalline green face. It was hydrogrossular garnet, sought-after among gem traders. I had found my mythical thousand-dollar rock.
Out of the intriguing disorder of Big Sur emerged a heavy garnet stone on my desk and California: Walking Through Change in Lumiere Gift Shop.
I encountered a green rock with pink undertones. A curl of purplish-orange manganese garnet tracked down one side of the crystalline green face. It was hydrogrossular garnet, sought-after among gem traders. I had found my mythical thousand-dollar rock.
Out of the intriguing disorder of Big Sur emerged a heavy garnet stone on my desk and California: Walking Through Change in Lumiere Gift Shop.