Cross rocks, fairy rocks or staurolite crystals

We went to this dam to look for cross rocks or for their technical name staurolite crystals.

Out in the river is a good place to dig for them.

We just pick up handfuls of mud and sift through it to find one.

They are hard to find at first but once you get your eye trained for what to look for it seems they are every where.  It was very relaxing to and sift mud through our fingers.

The kids walked up on the railroad bridge that is now converted to a bike trail.

It was a long way up there.

We spent a lot of time just climbing around the river bank.

And the bottom of the dam.

A picture of Dad taken from up on the railroad bridge.

Great view of the river.

There was a lot of splashing going on.  Tennis shoes are a must for walking in the water because there is broken glass.  It seems that people like to party down there.

There were some talented graffi artist.  This door from a distance looks real.

This silvery mud is a great place to find the cross rocks.  The dam breaks the rocks, which are quite soft, apart and they turn into this mud and the cross rocks are free.

These are single cross rocks, they don't have the cross.  The one that looks like a cross is just two on top of each other.

These are the real finds, but they are far and few between to find one in the shape of a cross with both sides of the cross.  We found a few that would have one side of the cross arm.  People make these into jewelry or carry them in their pockets.