We started our pit in the area we were finding the purple on our last trip to the mine.  Our hopes were high and we were ready to get to the good stuff.  Once throwing the dirt out of the pit with our shovels became too much of a hassel we began the "bucket brigade".  One of us would stand in the bottom of the pit shoveling the dirt into 5 gallon buckets and hoist them onto a shelf placed roughly halfway up the pit.  The other, standing above and outside the pit would then take the buckets 30 feet away from the pit and dump them.  This method worked for us because of two main reasons.  The first and most obvious reason was that this prevented the dirt from falling back into the pit after trying to throw it high and far enough to clear the edge of the pit.  The second, it promoted teamwork and motivation which in my opinion got more work out of us than if we were digging our own separate holes.  What was the final dimensions?  10ft deep, 8ft wide x 16ft long.  A rough calculation of the volume of a cone puts it about about 13 cubic yards of dirt.  It should also be noted that my good friend John Shiraef from Tennessee stopped in for a day and really moved some dirt for us.  He was a machine.  If not for him we would not have progressed as well as we did on the pit.  Thanks John!

This is roughly a time lapse series of photos with me in the pit as it decended.  (photos courtesy Joe Moylan)

Although we managed to get a few good finds from this massive pit, each of us managed to get twice as much material on our last visit there on our own.  Where did it go?  We found the material in the same area last time.  Surely going deeper would yield larger, better preserved specimens right?  It is interesting how we can be so motivated by our imaginations.  Needless to say I was not in good spirits by the end of our dig on Sunday.  Spoiled by our last trip there, our expectations were set quite a bit higher than the outcome.  But, as I sit here physically and mentally rejuvenated after the grueling dig, I'm much less disconcerted.  We ended up with some lovely specimens.

This scepter will be a nice addition to our Reel Mine collection.    

And two more specimens.  Notice the nice "record keeper" on crystal in the first photo (below).  This specimen can be seen extracted by Joe in the video I posted at the end of this report.

And when Ben and Tim pulled out these history making specimens from the same pocket Troy found everyone was floored.  Joe and I heard the news of the find as we were working in our pit.  After seeing with our own eyes what was found both of us were in agreement that what we saw was so much better than we imagined. Perfect points, dark gemmy amethyst.  The stuff of dreams.   (photos courtesy Rick Jacquot)

And here is some video I took from this trip. 

Thanks for the report!  Couldnt make it myself so its nice to see a good video of what I missed!  Thanks, Later, Bryan

Good to see you again, John. Glad to you made it home
safe and sound. Tell the Mrs we'll be looking forward to some
more of those brownies!

Joe