Digging for Diamonds!

I camped at Parker Creek campground last night. It is  located at Lake Greeson -- less than a half hour drive from Crater of Diamonds State Park. The campground was peaceful and the showers were clean and included hot water! I loved seeing the lightning bugs flying around the campsite after dark, and watched them through my tent netting before I fell asleep.

I talked with a few kids who were riding their bikes last night, and let them borrow my flashlight to check for snakes before they would venture into the restroom.

This morning an 81 year old lady who was walking her dog around camp complimented me on my hair. She moved to Arkansas from Houston and said she missed the diversity found in larger cities like Houston.

I drove to the diamond park, paid my admission, watched a short video, rented the basic kit (shovel, bucket, coarse and fine sifter boxes), and headed to the diamond fields.

They said people have the best luck after a rainstorm, but that was out of my control and I was happy not to be wading in mud. They plow the diamond digging area -- I don't know how often. Some people prepared for the heat well and brought umbrellas or pop up tents.

Wagons were available for rent and some people brought their own. I didn’t rent one, but I saw the wisdom in it when I started hauling around a 5 gallon bucket of dirt in the hot sun!

The park has a couple of covered washing stations for wet sifting through the dirt. They include troughs of water for doing the sifting, and wooden tables for dumping out the results. It was nice to do the sifting work under a shaded roof!

The coarse sifting pan sorted out the big stuff, the smaller rocks and pebbles fell through to the fine sifting pan, and dirt fell through the bottom.

I didn't find any diamonds, but I had plenty of company in that respect. I kept a few pieces of Jasper, though.

I met a man who found a diamond yesterday just by walking around and looking down. People have found the largest diamonds just by walking and scanning the surface of the ground. I tried that for awhile but didn't find anything. Everyone is allowed to take home up to 5 gallons of sifted gravel per day to sort through at home, but that doesn't make sense for me on my trip. Many people have found diamonds that way, though.