A Mica Hike

Mica was our first choice for Blossom's name.  Boy or girl, didn't matter, we loved the name.  When she was born, it just didn't seem to fit, and we obviously didn't use it.  But I still love the name.  When we went on a rock & mineral hike in Burnsville with Clay's Earth Science class this week, there was mica EVERYWHERE!  Little slivers and big chunks, it sparkled along the whole trail.

I loved getting to show Blossom what it was, and she loved collecting the shiny pieces of rock nearly looked like little pieces of glass.  However, she doesn't have nearly the attention span for an entire rock observing hike, so she was quickly distracted by pretty plants and climbing rocks.

The teens had been studying various types of rocks and minerals, and were eager to find some treasures of their own. 

We hiked into Ray Mine, which is an old mica mine.  Well, we didn't go *into* the mines, that would of course be ridiculously dangerous.  We hiked around them, peered down some old mine shafts and
poked around the creek for rocks washed down from the mountain top.

The class came equipped with rock hammers and axes for getting inside large rocks to identify the minerals within.  They even let Blossom help (I love these guys :)

Hopefully we'll get sneak in some more Winter hikes on the rare sunny days!