April 20th, 2024 Biggs, Oregon Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sat. April 20th we had a field trip to a private quarry near Biggs Junction, Oregon for Biggs Jasper and Agate. Jay Carlson of Sherman County Rocks in Rufus, OR, manages the operation and is doing field trips for rock clubs only. We had a beautiful clear day and started out by picking through the piles of material at his shop – Wascoite, Grainite, China Hollow, and Biggs Jasper/agate. Jay also has some beautiful finished material inside his shop. There were 20 people in 12 vehicles that went up to Beers Mtn. A few things I picked up from Jay’s explanation last year of the material is that it’s a mudstone formation formed millenia ago by thick mudpools under and over basalt lava flows. There were gas bubbles burping through the thick goo causing the intricate patterns to form as it was going through a hardening process. Bands of limonite (a type of iron) form the intricate patterns. It’s highly metamorphed and over time some agate and jasper formed in seams and pockets in the stone. The material takes a great polish. Mostly in brown tones, there are some hints of bluish and greenish coloration and pockets/seams of druzy crystal. The sites were easy to pick. A few people chiseled out chunks from the hard rock, but mostly it’s walking around and collecting loose material. The hardest part is deciding what to take home. The Beers Mtn material as well as the Wascoite and Grainite was $5/lb and the China Hollow material was $2/lb. We started out at 8:45 AM and finished by 12:00.
Afterwards some of us went to the Polka Dot Agate mine and others went to Richardson’s Rock Ranch. Both of those are about 80 miles further south via Hwy 97. At Polka Dot we chiseled beautiful blue agate from a large deposit that they’ve unearthed on the property. It’s very hard and dense and difficult to get chunks out, and one has to make a time slot reservation to work in the pit, but they also have a pile that you can pick from which is much easier.

Members who joined me were:
Scott & Laurie M., Christina L, John & Dave C. & friend Mike, Kari C., Scott M., Marion R., Michelle & Jerry M., Noelle B., Pete A., Jarrod D., Chris W. +2, Arlea W. +1.
Submitted by Roger Danneman Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: April 27, 2024 — 11:40 am

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

  • We are going to show a video of the most unusual and amazing things found in Amber. It isn’t just insects. We are also going to have a recap of how our Gem Show did last month. Show ‘n Tell: An item that has something trapped inside or a picture rock, thunder egg, or geode that looks like it has an insect, animal, or face inside.

  • Maureen will speak on the geology and the movement of the Washington coastline over millions of years. Show ‘n Tell: Favorite rock or mineral from Washington

  • Glen Ripper is a leading authority on Obsidian. He is a walking encyclopedia which should make this an interesting and educational meeting. Show ‘n Tell: Obsidian – let’s see your colors.

  •   We start the day off with a potluck holiday meal. The club provides roasted turkey and ham. Members fill in with their favorite holiday potluck dish. We follow our meal with the election of officers for the coming year. Our final activity is our club auction. It is a great time to pick up great bargains on rough rocks, polished rocks, slabs, fossils, opal, etc. Our Young Tumblers can use their Rock Bucks to purchase auction items. This meeting is also our semi-annual food drive for the Kent Food Bank. Please remember to bring something. The Food Bank has informed us that they need feminine hygiene products and grape or strawberry jelly. People donate loads of peanut butter but never jelly. They also receive very few donations of feminine hygiene products.

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