RAYMOND - Madison Huck's small Halloween bucket got a test run Saturday afternoon but the items she was adding to the orange container weren't edible.

"This one is beautiful," the 2-year-old said, throwing a small sparkly rock into her bucket.

Huck was one of dozens of young people and adults who spent Saturday afternoon digging for treasures at Basic Materials Corp.'s Raymond rock quarry. The environmental field trips were sponsored by the Black Hawk Gem and Mineral Society, the University of Northern Iowa earth science department and Basic Material Corp.

Parts of the quarry were open to visitors to explore, learn and gather treasures. Sherman Lundy, a longtime Basic geologist, said it is important to make the facility open to visitors because quarries are usually the best place to study geology.

"Earth science plays a key role in our lives … and there are very few places you can see rocks the way you can here," Lundy said. "This is a ready-made geological site."

While Madison Huck was content walking the perimeter of the large rock piles, her 8-year-old brother, Martin, was busy looking for geodes and other sparkly rocks with fellow Boy Scout Luke Rottinghaus. Roxanna Huck said her son usually finds rocks by the river near their home, but this rock pile was bigger than any he had encountered before.

"He loves rocks. I just hope he learns something. He knows about geodes but I think he can learn more from these people. They really know what they are talking about," she said. "Madison, she's just out here for fun."

Six-year-old Kevin Vanderpool is also a little too young to understand exactly what he can find at the rock quarry, but that doesn't keep him from getting excited when a sparkly rock catches his eye. His new best friend, Mike Powelka, a Gem and Mineral Society member, understands all too well the excitement in the little guy's eyes.

"I've been collecting since I was 3," the 53-year-old said. "The more education we can give them, the stronger our youth will be. But, the older young kids are just as important, they have to bring these young kids out here."

But, Powelka doesn't get much time to lament about his youthful days as a rock collector. He is a popular man at the quarry, mostly because of his big smile and even bigger sledgehammer.

"He likes breaking those rocks," Vanderpool said, as he waits patiently for Powelka to crack one open for him. "Wow. He hits them hard."

But Saturday wasn't all fun and games.

Instead of seeking the prettiest rocks around, Laura Holm, 19, and Liz Rippel, 19, were looking for stones they could identify. The Hawkeye Community College students hoped to earn some extra credit points in their earth science class by participating in Saturday's outdoor adventure. Holm was busy taking notes as members of the area Gem and Mineral Society explained what they had found. Rippel used a disposable camera to take pictures of their finds.

When they head back home - Holm is from Ames and Rippel is from Mount Auburn - they will each be responsible for writing a page and a half paper explaining what they found and what they learned.

Steven Danielsen, 14, will also admit the rock quarry isn't where he would most like to be on a Saturday afternoon, but he's trying to have fun anyway. He isn't sure what he hopes to find, but he hopes it will satisfy his teacher at Holmes Junior High who recommended the event. Instead of letting the adults have all the fun, he has taken a small hammer from a Gem and Mineral Society member and is trying to break open a stone.

"Why do rocks have to be so hard?" he said, just moments before breaking the hammer on a rock. "I don't know what I thought I would find, maybe some pyrite."

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.