Rock hounding Journals are done differently.
Why? Because they are a combination of rock hounding and travel journaling. The rockhounding journal is written about the rocks. Where they were found, what they are, if you know, and what you'll do with them, and what time of the year you were out. That's the other joy of writing a Rock Hounding Journal, keeping track of where you went and when. But that focus of writing then becomes a travel journal.
Travel journals are written from the aspect of where, when, the planning and the result. When we go rock hounding we travel a distance from home. If we go up the hill above Summit it's only 5-10 miles and requires little pre-planning or take-alongs. We always have water and rock digging equipment in the truck. But what else does it take? Depends on the trip. Watch for my post the first part of June. We''re traveling to Tonopah, Nevada to dig for Turquoise and that's a trip that takes planning.
I'll start with recording the dates, times, locations, tentative plans, hotel reservations, various bits and pieces of information about the trip. I'll start the journal and proceed during the trip.
Why? Because "Journal Writing Matters".
The following is an excerpt from a blog post I did in April of 2015. We had closed our gallery in Escalante and hadn't moved to Enoch yet. You can read my blogging from 2012 to 2017 at
Utah Gemstone Jewelers.Why Rock Hound?
Because it’s peaceful. Especially in early spring and late fall.
As I was walking along the wash I could hear the watchman for the flock of Pine Jays. Watching for a few pines full of nuts, a campsite left unattended or to figure out where everyone else went. They roam hundreds of miles in this Juniper/Pine forest of the desert.