A Visit to the Ruggles Mine, New Hampshire
I had the most wonderful experience recently at the Ruggles Mine in New Hampshire. The mine is located on top of Isinglass Mountain and has been in existence for over 200 years. The current owners have kept it open to the public for almost 50 continuous years.
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The day started with a 2 1/2 hour drive north for me and my husband. It was a very pretty drive once we left the highway; all country roads that were dotted with small villages and general stores. The day couldn’t have been more spectacular- sunny with occasional cumulus clouds and 80 degrees.
When we arrived at the entrance (drive straight up the mountain) this wonderful sign made us laugh at the touch of irony; we were traveling up to the top of a mountain in the middle of no where, away from all the hustle and bustle to connect with earth energy. No GPS was going to be helpful to us in the least!
We wound our way up the curvy steep rocky, rutted dirt road as it steeply climbed to the top of what we discovered later was a mountain facing out to the hills of Vermont; as seen off in the distance:
After a picnic lunch and a quick tour through the gift shop (which sold crystals and rocks from all over the world to unlucky miners who didn’t find anything on their trip) we bought our tickets. We had done our homework before going on this adventure and some feedback was that this place was expensive; an entrance fee, a hammer and bucket rental fee, plus the cost of food (if you buy) but my husband and I decided that it was worth the one time, special occasion we were celebrating, money to spend on a small business that helped their local economy.
With all that taken care of, we headed into the mine, down the cave like tunnel path:
When we arrived at the bottom of the tunnel entrance we were greeted by a very large open air pit with caverns dotting the sides (notice the people in this picture!):
We hunted around exploring each cave as we made our way deeper and deeper into the mine. We were having fun exploring, stopping to chisel at a crystal mass here and there, but that was very hard work! Here you can see my hammer working on carving out a smokey quartz cluster. I dutifully chipped away for about 20 minutes in the hole that had been worked on by countless others before me, before I grew too tired and knew that a massage would be in order for my shoulder if I didn’t stop soon!
We hunted through the pitch black tunnels exploring where they would take us (with more than one head bump along the way in low hanging and narrow spaces- definitely not for the claustrophobic!):
Eventually, we found our way out of the tunnels and we made it to the base of the mine, about a mile down, gently sloping through the open air pit to rock piles full of rubble. A mine guide was there and explained that there had recently been a blow out site where they used dynamite to smash the rock walls. From there on out we had a field day hunting through the rock piles for loose crystals and stones. It was hard work moving hundred pound boulders out of the way and digging through jagged, sharp rocks on a hillside of loose rubble, but we managed!
We found rose quartz, milky white quartz, smokey quartz, beryl, tourmaline, mica, pyrite, emerald and ruby. I am in the process of sorting through it all and cleaning it up. With such lovely earth energy trapped inside each crystal piece, I decided to highlight and sell specific pieces in my Etsy shop. Look for them soon!
All in all, we had a fun adventure, not entering into the experience with pre-determined expectations, but instead, a sense of wonder at how grand Mother Nature can be. We let the unfolding excitement of the day guide us and in the end, we weren’t disappointed in the least!
Have you ever been to a crystal mine before? What was it like? Share in the comments!
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