May 7th, 2011: We left the Pony Express Monument in Faust at 8:30am.



From there we traveled to Simpson Springs, another Pony Express Way Station. This is one of the few left where the building foundations are still visible. The history here is so thick it can be felt in the air.



The mountain in the back ground is Granite Peak (a.k.a. Sapphire Mountain). Between Simpson Springs and the mountains is a fence that separates all collectors from the mountain. This fenced area is the Dugway Proving Grounds. The Army uses the big field for tank maneuvers. At one time in the past Brigham Young University's geology department was able to get permission to take field trips to Granite Peak. I have seen massive pale purple/white fluorite and 1 inch beryl (aquamarine) crystals from there.

From Simpson Springs we traveled to the Solar Wind Claim on the north end of the Thomas Range. It is situated on the west side of Dugway Pass between the Dugway Range and the Thomas Range.



The topaz collected ranged from less than 1/4 inch to 1.5 inches. The bixbyite crystals ranged from 1mm to nearly an inch. Many people found combinations of topaz and bixbyite. One spectacular specimen was a 25mm topaz with a 9mm bixbyite and a spray of pseudobrookite 20mm long.



An important phenomenon to the topaz from the Solar Wind Claim is that it doesn't loose its color like the topaz from the rest of the range. In stead of fading from the brown champaign color to clear when left in light they change to a pale rosy pink.

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