On Sunday April 19th we had a beautiful day for a field trip, the kind of day I hope for when we go to Swift Creek on the east side of Mt. Baker. The Baker Lake reservoir is still low and the gravel beds accessible but quite a hike on river cobble to get across and downstream.. Metamorphic rocks in abundance – the Baker Blue Agates rather sparse. We met on-site at 10 am. I didn’t do very well on the agate hunt, but I was also looking for nice jasper. I started noticing that there are a lot of the rusty skinned rocks here like Listwanite, except these don’t have the hints of green in the skin. I took a couple of them home to cut and check out. After we finished at Swift Creek I went to the Cascade River further east by Marblemount. Here there is the Listwanite with strong green colors. One of my pics shows the comparison of the two colorations of the Listwanite. Curious, I queried Gemini and got some interesting information that I’m submitting for the May Tumbler publication. Anyway, we had a good group, good weather, and there’s no better place to be on a beautiful spring day than by a mountain stream looking for rocks.
Joining me on this trip were John M., Michelle M., Vanessa L., Aubrey S., Diane C., Chris V., Mathew C., Mary F., Jarrod D., and guests Alexis and David.
Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide
