garnets along the salmon river
what were we ‘hounding? ironic that at one of the salmon river’s largest rapid, lays thousands of ruby red garnets. to be exact, these are almandine garnets crystals, in schist. garnets come in many shapes, sizes, and colors, but Idaho specifically is home to some of the most famous garnets on earth. the star garnet. (although, what i found here weren’t star garnets!)
what are garnets? often associated with the heart, blood, life force, and fire, garnets have symbolized loved, passion, and success over centuries. coming in on the hardness scale at 7.5-8.5, this tough guy has proved durable enough to have been found in remnants of jewelry dating back to the bronze age. also tough enough to withstand heat, one of the few gem stones that can be cast in place in the art of jewelry making. perfect garnets have 12 sides. almandite garnets hold the color of deep brown, to purplish red.
garnets are often found inside a host rock. often sedimentary or ingenious. as far as this specific area goes, i wasn’t able to find much on what exactly said host rock was. my best guess was some kind of mica schist. brown and black shiny flecks encased bigger pieces that still had garnets inside. sources say that garnets can be found in both granite and basalt - but, since this area is on the river, it makes sense the host is sedimentary. when the rapids and the river run high each spring, the power of the water helps to continually expose new garnets, leaving them scattered underneath rocks and laying in the sand. the garnet group as a whole, is relatively resistant to weathering
not to far from the road, at initial first sight, this area would look like your normal large beautiful rapid. climbing down into the rocks, pockets of sand require a little bit of digging, until you see your first squarely shaped red garnet poking though.
sources: “Garnet Group from Ruby Rapids.” Mindat.Org, 2004, www.mindat.org/locentry-456944.html.
disclaimer. on my hounding journeys i refrain from giving the exact locality of the area, but give enough clues, that with any amount of research, you could more than likely find the area. if you have any questions or want to know more about said place, let me know! if you happen to go out, always follow leave no trace practices, as well as the BLM’s guidelines to collecting and harvesting fossils or rocks in the given area.