Heading east through Montana we stopped at a rest area near Anaconda. The Visitor's Center had information about nearby Philipsburg and Gem Mountain, where you can pan for sapphires! Need I say more! We decided to sidetrack for 2 days to Philipsburg, with a day trip up Gem Mountain to pan for precious stones. It was all great fun. Philipsburg is a fine old mining town with many original brick buildings. The town architecture and terrain reminded us of Georgetown, CO. We had prefect weather for our day at Gem Mountain. You buy a bucket of sandy, rocky mountain diggings for $15-$90 dollars, depending on how rich the vein it came from. After getting a 'how to pan for sapphires' lesson we went at it for a few hours. We did come away with a dozen or so small stones for a total of 4.5 carats, not worth anything other than the unique experience. We did see one women's 3+ carat gem quality stone.
