Glitter Mountain

It has almost been two and a half years since my daughter, Brittany, passed away. Today was Memorial Day and we brought flowers to her grave and released balloons.

She would have been sixteen now.  Her passion to dream led her to love fairies, distant lands with waterfalls, magical places, and wild flowers. She loved the beauty in life. Perhaps she would have out-grown some of her childhood fantasies by now, but I think she still would have loved Glitter Mountain.

We went with her in mind.

Glitter Mountain is located on the Arizona Strip, surrounded by rugged cliffs and colorful rocks. We only got lost once while driving there.

Rather than a mountain, it is really a gouge in the earth that apparently has been mined in the past. At first glance, it looks as if shattered glass is everywhere. At the correct angle, all the mineral shards glitter in the sunlight.

A walk into the “pit” reveals bare walls of crystal-looking rock that kids can chip away at with a hammer and chisel.

This has sometimes been mistaken to be a mica mine. Instead, it is selenite, a variety of the mineral gypsum. The word “selenite” comes from the Greek word “selēnitēs” which literally means moonstone, or stone of the moon. I would say that it is appropriately named, because, although somewhat transparent, they carry the color of the moon.

We spent well over an hour at the pit, the girls chipping away at the selenite and I wandering around exploring. I found a collard lizard scampering through the rocks. By the time we left, we had a small bag full of crystalline treasures.

I think that Brittany would have enjoyed herself.

Getting there isn't too difficult. It is directly south of the Old Spanish Trail and just southeast of Little Black Mountain. Don't follow the quail. It will probably be running the wrong direction.