Day 5 - Ruby Reservoir

About two hours southeast of Phillipsburg is the Ruby Reservoir. The name comes from the garnet rich soil along the Ruby River plateau. We had been here several years ago and wanted to make a return trip. There is free primitive camping along the shore of the reservoir. Following the rutted dirt track you come across tent groups and RV rigs scattered around the hillside. There is a port a pot by the boat launch, but that is it for amenities.

Although we were in search of large garnets, other people spend time on the lake fishing, jet skiing, boating, and this time we saw a little sailboat. As with most of the large lakes that we have camped on, there was constant wind most of the day. Actually, the wind was great because it was a comfortable temperature even on a 85+ degree day. Also, the wind keeps insects away which is always a bonus.

We found our “camp spot”, gathered our gold panning gear, and scrambled down the rocky shore to start our treasure hunt. The last time we were here we picked out all the little bits of garnet which are very plentiful, but of little use other than pretty fishbowl gravel. In fact, when using our gold pans, as we get down to the “black sand” it actually looks purple because there is so much crushed garnet mixed into it. This time, we said we would just try to pick out stones that might be large enough to cut.

A few garnets that we found will probable be clear enough and large enough to send in for faceting. We won’t know that until we take them in to our jeweler for evaluation.  Regardless, it was a fun afternoon on the sunny lakeshore.

Back up at our rig, we pulled out the chairs and toasted a successful treasure hunt with a cold Fireball. The rest of the day was spent watching the clouds roll across the sage dotted hillsides around the reservoir.

Although we’ll head east again tomorrow, this was a great side trip.