Collector Spotlight: Ashtyn Baldas
1. How many years have you been collecting and what started your passion?
I feel like my story is a bit different than others. Unlike so many people, I didn’t collect rocks at an early age. I did, however, have a pet rock that was given to me as a birthday present one year by my grandmother which I thought was pretty stinking cool. “Rocky” stayed with me for a bit until she miraculously disappeared (I’m thinking she likely went to live out the rest of her days with the landscaping rocks around the perimeter of my childhood home). It wasn’t until I attended college and took a geology class that the bug started to bite. As part of the class we had to memorize different species of rocks and be able to identify them by sight, their properties, and overall composition. As a means of getting these down (there were seriously over 35 rocks that we had to know, which looking back isn’t that many, but at the time seemed ambitious), I would spend time walking the mineral displays that our college campus had practicing and going over flashcards I had made. It blew my mind that I was able to hold and be surrounded by something so old and so beautiful and so unique. Fast forward another few years to when Forrest and I started dating. One day he brought home a beautiful Romanian Baryte, with a colorful blue gradient and shiny blades about her and something inside me clicked. I had to have more. Here we are six years later and she is still my most treasured Baryte, but she has many, many more friends that she is surrounded by in our mineral cabinet.
2. What's the focus of your collection and has that changed through time? Why?
My first love, no surprise here, is Barytes. I appreciate how diverse they can be. The color, the growth structure, the different sizes you can get. They can be extremely sturdy or astonishingly delicate. They, like many other minerals, can look totally different from their counterparts due to the locality that they are found in. I love this about them because it gets me to thinking about how they grew, how nurturing the environment was that they formed in. I have Barytes from many of the traditional locals, of varying sizes and shapes; enough so, that I’ve branched out to collecting thumbnails. When it comes to them, anything seems to go. There is no focus other than what catches my eye which can make for a real problem when narrowing down choices while buying. Maybe one day there will be more of a focus?
3. What do you like to do outside of mineral collecting? (hobbies, job, music taste, etc).
For work, I am a Process Safety Engineer for a globally owned chemical company. The overall goal of my role is to help assess, manage, and mitigate the facilities overall process risks for two of our sites, so that really bad things like fires, explosions, and toxics releases don’t happen. I also focus some on behavioral based safety, but not to as great an extent as the process side. Some days can be really exciting, other days grueling, but each day is rewarding. I think my favorite part is working with each group within our sites to ensure that we are doing the best we can to protect our employees from the hazards.
Outside of work, I enjoy going on road trips with Forrest, traveling in general, spending time with our two dogs and one cat, baking, dancing in the kitchen, hiking, playing board games, going to concerts (pre-covid, obvs), crafting, and reading. I’m also a fan of binge watching TV shows on Netflix every now and again. I’ll also rarely say no to a trip to TJ Maxx or Bath & Body Works – I love smelling the candles they have there.
4. Is there anyone who has inspired you in this field? Do you look up to the collection of someone in particular?
There are so many wonderful people in this field who I admire and look up to. I am extremely grateful to Forrest for getting me hooked and being down to always go on rock hunting adventures, visit rock shops, and be supportive of my rock purchases. Someone who has become extremely special to both myself and Forrest though, is Sandy Ludlum. The stories Sandy has from his field collecting days in King County, Washington are some of my favorite to hear. The overall logistics of what he and his friends had to do to find the incredible Quartz and Pyrite pieces astonishes and amuses me. Sandy has a wonderful collection of Sphalerites, which he is dedicated to, and so much knowledge in his head of all things minerals and fossils that it makes my own head spin. We recently took a trip up to visit him and his wife Maureen, who we also adore, and after Sandy learned that I had become interested in thumbnails, took the time to look over a portion of his Sphalerite thumbnail collection together. He is patient, a wonderful teacher, and has some very fine specimens. I hope to one day know a fraction of what he does, but if I don’t, I will find it an accomplishment if I am just as kind hearted and good natured as him.
5. Are you a stay-at-home collector or do you collect on the field too?
One of my favorite things about this hobby is that with a little bit of planning, you can collect your own minerals. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want and you may or may not get something when you go dig, but holy cow the whole experience is so neat. For instance, I have had the opportunity to ‘collect’ from a tailings pile at the Oceanview Mine in Pala, California, and was able to take home some pretty great Tourmaline pieces. Totally low key, you just have to sift through a pile of dirt and hope you have a bit of luck on your side. It’s a fun experience, the setup is all there, and you generally get a decent reward out of it. Forrest and I have done more ‘do-it-yourself’ trips where you have to have some gear to make it worthwhile (at least a hammer and some toilet paper to wrap your minerals in). One of our favorite last minutes spots which didn’t require much planning at all was to Garnet Hill, in Ely, Nevada. We were briefly in the area, happened to google rock shops / places to dig nearby, which is something we typically do when we’re away from home, and Garnet Hill was the option to go to. It was a little hairy trying to get back to the dig site, but once we were there the digging was easy and we got some cute little pieces to add to our personal collection. None of them are the best we’ve ever seen, but they mean a tremendous amount to me because of the memories associated with collecting them. If you have an opportunity to go dig in that area, I 100% recommend it. Heck, if you could move out to that area, I would recommend it – it’s gorgeous.
6. If you could give any advice to someone new to the hobby, what would it be?
Be patient. You don’t have to know everything to enjoy collecting. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a nice piece. You don’t have to have a favorite locality to be accepted in the community. You don’t need the best specimens to be a collector. I feel like there is some pressure to ‘know it all’ or at least ‘know a lot’ in this hobby, and while it would be great to be an expert, it is not a requirement for having fun (neither is having a geology degree). If you want to casually collect, that is absolutely wonderful. Find what you like and keep at it. If you’re wanting to be a bit more serious about it and your background isn’t in geology, there are wonderful resources at your fingertips which you can utilize to help grow (hint: mindat is one of them). Attend rock shows, get to know people within the community (YMC has been awesome at aiding in more interactions), and look at as many rocks as you can. The more you see, the more you’ll get a feel for what you like and what you don’t like. And please, don’t be afraid to ask questions; that is how you grow.
7. What’s your favorite snack in the field? And why? (If you don’t field collect, then what’s your favorite snack when you’re hiking, camping, outdoors etc.)
I am always game to talk about food. Usually when we do outside activities we’ll have a classic peanut butter sandwich on hand and some granola bars with plenty of water. Quick stuff that is easy to eat, isn’t perishable, and doesn’t generate much trash. My new recent favorite is cashews with dried pomegranates. It’s a sweeter treat that doesn’t leave you feeling super thirsty at the end.