On Sat October 18th we went to Swift Creek / Baker Lake. Due to early season snowfall in the mountains I had to make some decisions regarding our last scheduled field trips. We ended up going to Swift Creek on the east side of Mt. Baker for our Oct. 18th trip and cancelled the trips […]
Category: Field trip reports
report summary for cms lead field trips
Sept 26-28th, 2025 Teanaway Campout and Field Trip Report
The weekend of Sept. 26-28th was our annual CMS Campout. This is the 2nd time we’ve camped at the Teanaway Neighborhood Forest Campground and we really like it for group camping. Wide flat areas for pitching multiple dispersed tents, good parking, paved roads to the campground, and vault toilets. I could not camp without my […]
Sept 6th, 2025 Frost Mtn Field Trip Report
On Sat. Sept 6th we went to Frost Mtn south of Cle Elum for jasper/agate/chert and crystal. The material from here has some unique patterns and colors not found at any of our other sites. This is a long drive to get into, but still one of my favorite areas and I wanted to get […]
Aug 16th, 2025 CMS Annual Picnic at Lake Wilderness
Our annual picnic was held on Saturday Aug. 16th. It was a great club gathering with lots of good food and rocks/jewelry/items that went into the auction for raising funds toward our shop. We had about 38-40 people there (hard to get a firm count when everyone is moving about). Thanks so much to Angie […]
July 19th, 2025 Crystal Mtn Field Trip Report
On Sat. July.19th we went to Crystal Mountain north of Ellensburg for geodes, crystal plates, jasper, and agate. A lucky break in the weather kept the temperatures in the low to mid 60s. 1st stop was a site where we’ve been busting through soft basalt and finding crystal lined geodes and agate nodules. Special thanks […]
July 12th, 2025 Greenwater Field Trip Report
On Sat. July 12th we went into the Greenwater area for black agate, misc jaspers, and opal. It was a gorgeous day, thankfully not too hot up there. We had a big group with 12 vehicles, 24 people, and 1 dog. The black agate site is deep in the woods off of FR7222. We dug […]
June 7th, 2025 Little Naches Field Trip Report
On Sat. June 7th we went to Little Naches for Thunder Eggs, Lily Pad Jasper, and Leaf Fossils. Temperatures were in the low 80’s with beautiful blue skies and a nice breeze up on the ridge. Gorgeous scenery going over Chinook Pass. We had 26 people and 16 vehicles on this trip. Very pleasant conditions […]
Feb-Mar-Apr-May, 2025 Summary Mt Baker, Saddle Mtn, First Creek, Biggs Field Trip Reports
This is a summary of our first 5 trips of 2025. I generally do a separate report for each trip, but this has been an unusual and busy year for me. On Feb. 22nd we went to Ole One Lane Bridge on the middle fork of the Nooksack river for Dunite and Gneiss. The river […]
Oct 19th, 2024 Crystal Mtn Field Trip Report
On Sat. Oct. 19th we went rockhounding at Crystal Mountain north of Ellensburg. Loren went up early that morning to check the access road and met us as we were arriving. He deemed the 2 mud holes too risky to attempt to drive through. Even walking it was very sticky and slippery he said. There […]
Oct 4-6th, 2024 Red Top Mtn Camp & Field Trip Report
On the weekend of Oct. 4-6th 2024 we combined camping and rockhounding at Red Top Mountain north of Cle Elum. Our original site at Crystal Mtn was closed along with the First Creek area due to the Swauk Creek Fire, so this was Plan B. The Teanaway Community Forest has a nice campground next to […]