April 21st, 2024 Saddle Mtn Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sun. April 21st we had a field trip to Saddle Mtn. for petrified wood It’s estimated that the petrified wood there is at least 14-15 million years old. We met at 9:45 in Mattawa and at 10:10 slowly made our way up into the hills on the infamous rough and rocky road. It was sunny but windy. The east side of the ridge was somewhat protected from the wind, but all of us got a little bit gritty from digging. There are several spots one can go in the Saddle Mtns., but I like this particular site because the material has more color and is plentiful, although mostly what I would call tumbler material. It is nicely agatized and rivals some of the nicest earth-tone agates in the state.
We had 16 people in 10 vehicles for this trip.
Joining me were Michelle & Jerry M., Arlie W. & guest Tonya, Noelle B., Pete W., Alex & Brandi W., Jarrod D., Jason S. and 2 sons, Kari C., Kelley G. (new member), and Pete A. (new member).

Loren Merriman will lead another trip to Saddle Mtn on Sunday April 28th and then the next CMS field trip after that is on May 11th to First Creek near Cle Elum. Loren will lead another trip to First Creek on Sunday May 19th. Info will be sent out 1 week ahead of that by e-mail to my Field Trips Distribution List.

Submitted by Roger Danneman Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: April 27, 2024 — 11:51 am

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  Thanks to everyone who came to the club camp out at Teanaway campground near Cle Elum last month. After a brief spell of rain the first night, we were blessed with sun, clear skies, and rockhounding the rest of the weekend. And a big thanks to Roger Danneman for doing all of the trip organizing, and keeping us all warm and well fed during the weekend. This month I’ll be giving a talk at our club meeting about how to use Gaia for rockhounding. If you have specific questions, please bring them along or feel free to email …

Meeting Announcements

  • Noelle Barnes will present Using Gaia for Rockhounding, an overview of the features and tricks associated with the app Gaia and how you can use it for GPS, saving waypoints, navigation, photo tagging, trail recording and more. Show and Tell: Bring the rock(s) that have the best “story” – and tell everyone how you found them and where!

  • Club board member Paul Ahnberg will talk to us about the impact of wildfires on our lives – from protecting your home to staying safe while out rockhounding – and what we can do today to help mitigate our risk. Paul will combine his knowledge gained from learning at both the WSU Green School (Master Gardener) and WSU Climate Steward programs. Show and Tell: Bring something you found, from a place that you know has since been impacted by floods or wildfires – or was impacted shortly before you arrived. Tell your story!

  • December’s date and time is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

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