Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites

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Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) By Peter Cristofono List Price: $21.95 Price: $17.63 & eligible for FREE Shipping on orders over $35. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 56 new or used available from $13.23 Average customer review:  (28 customer reviews)

Product Description

New England is one of the best regions in the country for rockhounds to hunt for minerals, gems, and fossils. The complex geology of the region hosts a stunning variety of material from gold-bearing placers to fossiliferous limestone; from gem-bearing pegmatites to rocks containing some of the rarest minerals on Earth. This book provides detailed directions and GPS coordinates to the best sites with valuable tips on what tools to bring and how to conduct your search. Comprehensive lists of minerals or fossils for each site and excellent color photos will help you know what to look for and to identify what you've found. Information on clubs, rock shops, museums, and special attractions are provided. Written by a collector with over 35 years of experience, Rockhounding New England is the first comprehensive rock and mineral collecting guide to New England and a must-have for anyone interested in collecting their own minerals, gems, and fossils in the region.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72991 in Books
• Brand: Ntl Book Network
• Published on: 2014-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x .90" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• Rockhounding New England

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Editorial Reviews

Review
Anyone interested in collecting rocks, minerals, fossils, and gold in New England, from beginners to advanced collectors, will find this book an invaluable resource.
About the Author 

Peter Cristofono was born in Massachusetts and has been an avid field collector of New England minerals, gems and fossils for more than 35 years. Beginning with his high school years in New Hampshire and later while majoring in geology at Boston College he assembled a large collection of self-collected specimens from the region. Peter has served as president of the Boston Mineral Club and is currently a director of the Micromounters of New England. He has authored mineralogical articles for various publications and websites. He is well-known for his macro photos of minerals and insects which have appeared in major newspapers, magazines, books, scholarly journals, museum exhibits and various websites including over 3,700 mineral photos on Mindat.org. Peter spends as much time as he can in the field. His home base is Salem, Massachusetts. 

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
The Best Guide to the region I have yet found...A Gem of a Guide!
By Todd
This is a great guide. I have been collecting in the area for over 45 years. Most of the well known sites are included. Caution: one poorly constructed sentence digression ahead. I'm 51 y/o, so I began this lifelong(so far) adventure at a very tender age.

So are lesser known sites. Almost every locale in my collecting area(central New Hampshire) has hidden gems that are only known to a few people.

These simply cannot all be sourced. A good USGS map is of little help. You have to find out where they are. As the author emphasizes: join a club.

This book is great for that purpose. I have wasted countless hours trying to find a particular spot to no avail. If an area sports a mine, chances are extremely good that good collecting opportunities exist just outside of said mine. Just be aware as to land ownership issues. The author gets into the nuts and bolts of field work, so I'll just state that he does an outstanding job in laying out the do's and don'ts of prepping for field work, and its subsequent execution.

The writing style is really well-suited to the subject matter. The information is--in many cases--more up to date than my own. I haven't found bad data in the book to this point. Of course I'll never make it to all the locales illustrated. His writing style is generally of a 'just the facts' variety. He also displays a great love of scenic vistas and other delights to the senses one expeiences in the field.

Speaking of illustrations, the images are smashing. Mr. Cristofono is a celebrated mineral specimen photographer. The book certainly does nothing to tarnish that reputation. The maps are great, and if you follow the author's simple collecting rules, you are certain to find specimens worthy of any collection.

That's high praise indeed. One day spent at the right site will pay for the book. It just may pay many times over.

I go to both of the Palermo mines(Groton, NH) on a regular basis. Knowing the mine owner greatly assists in access.

I have seen so many changes in my collecting career that what were once freely open sources are now--almost without exception--of limited access. Again, knowing the right people can get you into ostensibly prohibited areas. Join a club. Our club dues are 10 USD per annum. For this token sum you receive enormous benefits.

The author's suggestion of joining a club cannot be overstated. This can open many of those closed collecting to general public access sites in the book. In today's collecting environment this is of paramount importance. Have I mentioned that one should join a club?

I would probably recognize the author if I saw him. For all its myriad charms, and undeniable sense of awe the hobby instills, the number of serious collectors--in northern New England at any rate--remains small.

So, this bloke recommends the book. Who is he anyway? Can I trust him?

In the vein(pun intended) of establishing 'street cred' I submit the following:

At the age of eleven, I co-discovered the source of arsenic in local well water. I was the first to chip off a specimen of arsenopyrite from a local granitic pegmatite outcrop. I also assisted with species identification. My 'almost famous' geological moment.

When you give new data to the state geologist, you're in pretty deep. I was thrilled to have been involved in what was to become, a subject of much speculation once local well water was found to be loaded with arsenic. I had a moment of precocious fame once I laid out by far the most likely source of well water contamination. My well founded hypothesis was subsequently confirmed.

As a collector, I'm semi-serious. I have been at it for a good long while, but I learned much from the book that I will be putting to the test in the upcoming season. If you're a collector in New England, or are considering a collecting trip to New England, this book should be on your EXTREMELY short list.

I can think of no better textual resource for the mineral collector in the New England states.

If you're out and about collecting in an exposed granitic pegmatite formation in central New Hampshire this spring/summer/autumn, and you see a short, devastatingly young looking collector in a 'dirty mac,' stop and say hello. My collecting outer garment will be drab green in color..hey, at least it was when new! That will most likely be your humble reviewer. I may not be able to show you they are, but I will almost assuredly be able to show where they 'ain't.' See, rockhounds(a misnomer if ever there was) can have a sense of humor. Then there are collectors like me. In all seriousness, I have found that nearly everyone in the field--from professional geologists to the most neophyte of amateur collectors--to be among the most giving groups you'll likely find. We're geo-geeks, and enjoy sharing our arcane knowledge with others. Honest! Those that are in it for the money, well, they're in it for the money.

The book is a fabulous resource. Buy it. The images are breathtaking, the info is as current as today, the 'pre-field' instructions are spot-on, and yes, even the writing is excellent! I see no caveats to a purchase.

Join a club. Collect. Be safe. Keep at it.

See you in the field!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A great guide of the New England states
By Barbara E. Wagner
A great guide of the New England states! I have visited several of the sites and the informationis right on target.

For collectors that are new, I would suggest joining a mineral club (inexpensive) in your area to get access to many of the sites
that require permission.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Great timing, shipped in record time
By Elise
Book is great on details of mining and rockhounding places, although not comprehensive as far as covering all the places one can go, it is a great starter book for nebbies like me.
See all 28 customer reviews...

Item of the Day: Garmin GPSMAP 64s Worldwide with High-Sensitivity GPS and GLONASS Receiver

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Garmin GPSMAP 64s Worldwide with High-Sensitivity GPS and GLONASS Receiver From Garmin List Price: $399.99 Price: $245.00 & eligible for FREE Shipping on orders over $35. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 79 new or used available from $199.99 Average customer review:  (254 customer reviews)

Product Description

Rugged, Full-featured Handheld with GPS, GLONASS and Wireless Connectivity

• 2.6" sunlight-readable color screen
• High-sensitivity GPS and GLONASS receiver with quad helix antenna
• 1-year BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription
• 3-axis compass with barometric altimeter
• Wireless connectivity via Bluetooth® technology¹ or ANT+™

GPSMAP 64s features a 2.6” sunlight-readable color screen and a high-sensitivity GPS and GLONASS receiver with a quad helix antenna for superior reception. GPSMAP 64s includes a 3-axis electronic compass with barometric altimeter, wireless connectivity and a 1-year BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription.

Get Your Bearings

GPSMAP 64s has a built-in 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, which shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. Its barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude, and you can even use it to plot barometric pressure over time, which can help you keep an eye on changing weather conditions.

Share Wirelessly

Share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with other compatible devices. Your friends can enjoy your favorite hike or cache without waiting for you to plug in to your computer — simply press “send” to transfer your information to another Garmin handheld.
GPSMAP 64st also connects to compatible Garmin devices, including VIRB™ and accessory sensors, including tempe™, foot pod and heart rate monitor.

Stay Connected

With Smart Notification you can wirelessly receive email, texts and alerts from your compatible iPhone® 4s or later. Stay connected without having to dig into your backpack for your smartphone.

Explore the Terrain

GPSMAP 64s comes with a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief plus a 1-year BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription, so you can navigate anywhere with ease. With photo navigation, you can download geotagged pictures from the Internet and navigate to them.

Keep Your Fix

With its quad helix antenna and high-sensitivity, GPS and GLONASS, receiver, GPSMAP 64s locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear — whether you’re in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on GPSMAP 64s to help you find your way when you need it the most.

Add Maps

GPSMAP 64s comes with a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief and a 1-year subscription of BirdsEye Satellite Imagery for a photo-realistic view. Adding more maps is easy with our array of detailed topographic, marine and road maps. With 4 GB of onboard memory and microSD™ card slot, you can conveniently download TOPO 24K and 100K maps and hit the trail, plug in BlueChart® g2 preloaded cards for a great day on the water or City Navigator NT® map data for turn-by-turn routing on roads (see maps tab for compatibility). In addition, the 64s is compatible with Garmin Custom Maps, a map format that allows you to transform paper and electronic maps easily into downloadable maps for your device, for free.

Find Fun

GPSMAP 64s supports paperless geocaching with 250,000 preloaded caches with hints and descriptions from Geocaching.com, and has a 16-hour battery life. By going paperless, you're not only helping the environment, but also improving efficiency. GPSMAP 64s stores and displays key information, including location, terrain, difficulty, hints and descriptions, which means there’s no more manually entering coordinates and paper printouts! Slim and lightweight, 64s is the perfect companion for all your outdoor pursuits.

Plan Your Next Trip

Take charge of your next adventure with BaseCamp™, software that lets you view and organize maps, waypoints, routes and tracks. This free trip-planning software even allows you to create Garmin Adventures that you can share with friends, family or fellow explorers. BaseCamp displays topographic map data in 2-D or 3-D on your computer screen, including contour lines and elevation profiles. It also can transfer an unlimited amount of satellite images to your device when paired with a BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription.

¹GPSMAP 64s is a Bluetooth® Smart device and can wirelessly sync with compatible Bluetooth® Smart Ready phones. Contact your provider to verify if your phone is compatible. The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

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Product Details

• Size: 7.10in. x 5.50in. x 2.30in.
• Color: Black, Red
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: 010-01199-10
• Released on: 2014-03-31
• Format: CD-ROM
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.30" h x 4.20" w x 1.40" l, .58 pounds

Features

• Sunlight-Readable 2.6" color display
• Expanded Internal Memory 4GB
• DUAL BATTERY SYSTEM Use with 2 traditional AA batteries, or the optional rechargeable NiMH battery pack that can be charged while inside the device
• Receive Smart Notifications* and pair with optional ANT+ sensors, such as heart rate monitor, Tempe temperature sensor, speed/cadence, or use to control your VIRB action camera (64s/64st only)
• Wirelessly upload data to Garmin Connect and view on smartphone, plus share activities as they happen with Live Track (64s/64st only)

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
217 of 228 people found the following review helpful.
The 60CSx was better
By vanman
After using, and loving, the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for years, I decided to "upgrade" to the GPSMAP 64st. Mainly, I wanted the much more finely detailed map of the US, but the built-in Bluetooth connectivity also seemed interesting and possibly useful. I also wanted the ability to save more tracks and longer tracks.

Now that I have used the 64st for a few months, I can say that the 64st is not nearly as good as the 60CSx. In most of the ways that matter to me, the predecessor 60CSx is better. Where the 60CSx felt like it had been designed by someone who actually hiked and depended on a GPS unit, the 64st feels like it was designed by a committee whose main goal was to come up with bullet points to appear in an advertisement.

To begin with the battery life of the 64st is abysmal. The batteries on the 60CSx last at least 2 to 3 times as long as those on the 64st. To even come close with the 64st, you have to turn off features like Bluetooth and GLONASS and use the display "battery saving" mode (which means the the screen is not on unless you press a key). To get around this, the manual suggests that you use (ultra high priced) lithium batteries. You could also use rechargeable batteries (good luck getting them recharged when you're out on a 4-5 day hike).

Even the user manual for the 64st is a minimalist document which appears to be designed to prevent you from finding how the 64st is supposed to work. The 60CSx manual is 116 pages long and is very compete. The 64st manual is 18 pages long. It contains only the most basic information. For example, the 64st has a setting called profiles. Profiles appear to be designed to save a collection of settings. The manual contains no information about the profiles that are included with the 64st or what settings are affected by a profile. The profiles included with the 64st are "Classic", "Hiking" and "Geocaching". There is no information in the manual explaining the difference in the profiles. "Classic" is the default. I thought that since I mainly use the GPS for hiking, I would change the profile from "Classic" to "Hiking". That was a big mistake. When the "Hiking" profile is selected, the 64st tries to "Calculate" the route (just like an automotive GPS would). Of course, since the device doesn't have most trails built in, the "calculation" always fails-- it never finds a route. Even if it could "calculate" the route it would be of little use since it has no way of knowing what route you want to take.

I have had frequent trouble with the 64st including nonsense points in a track leading to absurd odometer readings. Before the start of a hike, I wait for the GPS to get a good solid satellite position and a good location. Then I reset the trip odometer and other trip settings to zero. I start the hike and discover a minute or two later that the 64st thinks I have hiked 60 miles! Its clear that the 64st had gotten at least one spurious point and included it in the odometer mileage. How hard would it be for the GPS to deduce that it is not possible to travel 24,000 miles per hour and ignore the spurious track point?

There are some good things about the 64st. The built-in map is much more detailed than the one that comes with the 60CSx. When you are on a hike and you come to a road-- even a back-country dirt road, the 64st will likely be able to tell you the name of the road. The 60CSx only knows about major roads and not even all of those. The Bluetooth connectivity could be useful. You could, for example, download a GPX track on your smart phone and transfer it from your cell phone to the 64st via Bluetooth. The 64st has a lot more memory and can store much longer tracks than could the 60CSx (10,000 points versus 2,000 on the 60Csx) and can store many more tracks..
130 of 137 people found the following review helpful.
Garmin GPSMAP 64s Worldwide with High-Sensitivity GPS and GLONASS Receiver
By Mark S.
I have owned numerous Garmin GPSs, three different etrex, an Oregon, Dakota, 60csx, 62s and now a 64s. Things I have learned; Garmin does not make a perfect GPS. Garmin does not have the best customer service, for minor issues I have found emails work the best. Update the software right away and check for updates regularly. Learn to delete unwanted files IE pre-loaded geocaches. Use clear finger nail polish on the buttons, especially the 62/64 the paint can wear off pretty quickly. The track logs will wander, meaning sitting still they track while gaining distance. No two GPS units are the same in there track logs or in their coordinate read outs. If you and your friend both go out on a hike and there is a 0.4 of a mile difference always assume your device is the correct one.

Now about the 64. Got it out of the box, put batteries in it, turned it on. Took about a minute or so to figure out where it was. Then I changed some setting most important for me, switching from Garmin Serial to Garmin Spanner for my input. When plugged into
a computer Spanner gives you choice, to enter mass media mode or gps power power mode. Then I checked for software/firmware updates and there was. After the updates and loading maps for my area I took it out for a spin. I took it out on a known course. Loaded personal POIs, loaded a geocache or two, all of these activities worked well.

There are a few things I don't like about the 64 but most of these are personal, such as the the blue-tooth, I see no need but... a gps needs to know where it is, how to track your route, navigate to a location, have a reasonable battery life (turn the back light off during the day, batteries will last a lot longer) the 64s does this all of this and more....
160 of 171 people found the following review helpful.
Highly Accurate
By peter s omalley
Been using this unit for over a month. The gps is highly accurate, contrary to what a few other reviews said. The tracks function does wander slightly while standing still but it's made for people who are on the move. I loaded both purchased and free maps to both the internal hard drive and the SD card without issues. I also created some custom maps for use on a trip. Text notifications work instantly and I like the button versus the touch screen especially in a cold climate for hunting. The screen is small but amazing in both low light and bright light conditions. The battery life is also good with plenty of settings for your needs. I love this unit.

4/21/14 Just got back from Saint John, VI. Took my GPSMAP 64 down Reef Bay Trail to Lamesur Trail, with dense cover, all the way to the tip of the Island in the SE. The hike was about 8-9 miles. I then hitchhiked back to our resort and left my gps running. The round trip totaled about 20 miles of mountainous, windy roads and as I said, thick, lush cover. I later reviewed my "tracks" to find my path perfectly lined up with both the topo and custom maps I installed prior to my trip. I had no wandering data and my track never deviated more than roughly 4-5 feet. I took two sets of rechargable AA batteries on my trip and didn't get down to one bar (low), with the first set, until day three and roughly 16 hours of use, with some intensive data entry. While putting together my adventure with the photos I took with my iphone, I like how the software, Basecamp, drops the photos on my map where they were taken from the embedded geotag (will work with any camera that geotags photos). The only thing that could maybe be improved or maybe I haven't figured it out yet is that I'd like to be able to save my trip data within the unit instead of looking at it on my mac. If you save your trip to BaseCamp you can easily see everything you need (avg speed, distances etc). Finally, while the altimeter is not perfect, I calibrated it at the ocean and seemed to always be within 5-10 feet. That's it for now!
See all 254 customer reviews...

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