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Click on each specimen picture to enlarge.
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Click on each specimen picture to enlarge.
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We camped that evening at the Hardin Ridge Campground on Monroe Lake in the
Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana. Mushroom and turkey hunting seasons were in full
swing and the springtime weather was near perfect albeit somewhat cool at night. We were told that
it had rained heavily in the days that preceded our arrival bringing out an explosion
of flowers in the nearby pastures and fields. We talked to a mushroom hunter at the campground
who told us that the conditions were nearly perfect for the edible fungus, especially for
the much sought after morel. I fondly remembered my late father's yearly springtime ritual of
hunting morel mushrooms in the forests of Northern Michigan. He'd bring bags of them home, fry
them up in butter and pretty much stink up the house, but boy did it make him happy. But, I
digress again . . .
We spent the next couple days collecting at various roadcuts that were mostly on Hwy-37 near Harrodsburg and Bloomington. I have found that the best way to recover geodes from the Indiana roadcuts is to locate a spot on the roadcut where geode halves and impressions are showing and peal away the limestone in large blocks or sheets, if possible. This can be very difficult, but the use of a good prybar really helps. Going after whole geodes sticking out of a wall would seem to some to be the best idea, but most often these are in incredibly hard rock and recovering them is generally much too difficult and time consuming - that's why these whole ones are still where they are. If you are in the right spot, you will find plenty of geodes hiding inside the limestone.