April 16th, 2023, Saddle Mountain Field Trip Report

On Sun. April 16th we had our annual trip to Saddle Mtn. It’s estimated that the petrified wood there is at least 14-15 million years old. A very bumpy trip, the road up to the collecting sites just doesn’t get any better from one year to the next. We met at 9:45 in Mattawa and at 10:00 slowly made our way up into the hills. The weather started out great, but after a couple of hours the cold wind set in with a few raindrops. Still, with so many pits up there, it’s easy to collect a bucket worth of nice tumbling material and a few cutters in 2-3 hours time. If you want logs or log portions, then you have to do more work and dig for them. However, the tumbler material is nicely agatized and rivals some of the nicest agates in the state.
We had 9 people in 8 vehicles for this trip.
Joining me were Scott H., Colin O., Arlie W. & guest Tonya, Ananda C., Steve F. (new member – welcome Steve), Loren M., and Bill B.

Submitted by Roger Danneman Field Trip Guide (roger.danneman@gmail.com)
425-757-3506 cell and texts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: April 21, 2023 — 9:15 pm

Presidents Message

  • From the Top of the Rock Pile Our annual club picnic went off great. The grass and Arboretum area was not wet or muddy, plus it didn’t rain while we were there. We had the usual club members attend, plus a few new faces. I forgot to count how many people attended, but I estimate around 40. Thank you, Angie and Brian, for shopping for the food and setting everything up. Thumbler’s Tumblers donated a tumbler for our picnic auction and another one for our holiday auction in December. The new double-barreled 15# tumbler sold for $120, approximately one-third the

Meeting Announcements

  • Our wagonmaster, Roger, will go over the field trips he has planned for this year, including samples of what you can find at each location.   Show and Tell: Your Best Rock Find Of Last Year.

  • We’re still developing the 2026 calendar of events, but we know one thing for sure – our March general meeting will happen on the 12th at 7pm. We hope to see you there! Show and Tell: also coming soon!

  • Come one, come all and play ROCK BINGO! With schools out for many local school districts, we invite members, guests, and especially families and kids to come and enjoy one of our most fun nights of the year. Everyone is guaranteed to win at this FREE event! All you have to do is bring three wrapped presents – presents can be rocks, gems, minerals, crystals, fossils, cabochons, slabs, jewelry, tumbled stones – anything you think might be a nice gift for a rock enthusiast. 

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