PhotoEscapist

A good day + no idea where to go to take pictures = a Geocaching day (with a little GPS mission thrown in).

There are several Caches in my area and no Missions (just gold).  This being my second geocaching adventure (my first time out, I didn’t find either cache I set out to find   ), I decided a big container and easy terrain would be my best bet.

I fired up my iPhone Geocaching app, had it locate me and picked “Greeeetings Earthlings!“ the cache nearest to me meeting my requirements.

I did locate the cache (with some help) but, did not bring a pen or a tradeable item with me (who needs that pesky backpack with the lenses, filters and…uhhh caching items…anyway?).

You can see how nice the area is

I’m going to have to set one of my ‘N-Days’ to go Caching a little more

The Herkimer Diamond mine is a place I’ve always heard of and never been to.  The trip is about 90 mins by the thruway and goes through the beautiful Mohawk Valley.  I fired up Glenda, the good GPS, and headed for the fame and fortune that awaited me, hidden in the Little Falls Dolomite.

At the risk of repeating myself, the trip along the Thruway is very scenic.  You travel along the Mohawk Valley near the top and sometimes dipping down to the bottom.  It really is fantastic!   If you can, get someone else to drive you so you can spend a lot of time taking pictures   In the fall I plan on driving this route, or roads parallel to it, to get fantastic pictures of foliage and landscapes.

Even with Glenda along, I managed to miss the Diamond Mine.  Twice.  Don’t get me wrong, the Mines are well marked, I can occasionally be distracted by shiny things, blue things, and things that look good after being cooked in butter. I passed first in one direction while looking at something that might make a good picture ( it didn’t. Then on the way back because, I was looking on the left hand side of the road when the mines were on the right   Don’t give me a  hard a time, you’ve done it too ;-P

I arrived around 3:45, not knowing that the mine area closed at 5pm (note to self, do a bit of research before taking off all willy-nilly).  Admission is $10 for those over 12, $4 for 5-12 and free if you are 4 or under.  You can borrow a hammer with either your drivers license or a $15 deposit.  More information is on the Herkimer Diamond Mine Website.

As always, you can find the pictures for my adventures on Flickr

I really had a good time.  There’s nothing like smashing rocks with hammer to work out your pent up aggressions.  As an added bonus I found a couple of diamonds!

Not bad for a first timer

I found these while working some of the fallen rocks on the ground right around here:

I was the only person working this mine, but, there wre quite a few working the other one

This is really something to try!  Go earlier and make a day of it.  I’d suggest bringing some gloves, a chisel, water and perhaps a hat.  This may be more of a late spring or early fall adventure, there isn’t much shade to be had, and you’re going to be swinging a hammer

For information on the history of the Herkmer Diamond check out Herkimer History

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Now, get up, get out and, get going.  Enjoy!

I went with different shades of blue (but you see that…assuming you can see blue…otherwise it’s shades of gray) as, I’ll mostly be outdoors, taking outdoorsy pictures, and seeing as, the biggest outdoorsy thing out there is the (generally) blue sky…

This will probably change time to time, now that I’ve figured out where most of the options hide and know how to change them.  I may change the color scheme to match the Official State Color* of the State I’m in….

I’m close to a public beta on the page.  I have some unplanned time off form work this week, So I may make take a trip to DC, take some pictures on the way down and pause in Philly to tour the town.