Gem Mountain is a place we have been trying to get to for a very long time! Every time we want to go, the weather is bad so we have to postpone the trip. This year we said no more postponing! and we were able to make the trip happen over Memorial Day weekend. 
I did not get a very good shot of this as we drove by. Sad day - next time!
It took about 8 hours to get to Philipsburg where Gem Mountain is located, from Salt Lake City. It was a pretty uneventful drive, we drove through the evening.
We bought a bucket of dirt ($22) to start with and one of the employees showed us how to find the sapphires. Tip - bring long waterproof gloves - the water can be chilly and freeze your hands quickly. You have to swish the tray in the water 6-8 rounds.
Here's what you are looking for...
Do you see  any sapphires? I see one!
They gave us tubes to collect our treasures in.It's $5 I believe for an evaluation of your sapphires but since it was their opening day basically, they did it for us for free. Soo nice! I'm excited to eventually blog about what happened next but basically we left them about 6 good sapphires that they are going to fire up and polish for us and put into a piece of jewelry. I'm so excited to see how it turns out!Such a fun time. I'd love to go back again.Here's a link if you want to get some more information. Everyone was extremely helpful and nice.Now, on to our next destination!