March 19th 2022 Field Trip to Baker Lake / Swift Creek (agate, jasper, jade)

Past Field Trips

On March 19th, 2022, we will be going to the Baker Lake area for agate, jasper, and jade.  This area also has a lot of metamorphic rock that has interesting patterns and swirls which takes a nice polish.
Meet 9:45 AM at the Sedro Woolley Rite Aid Parking Lot.
Directions: From I-5, go past Mt. Vernon and take exit 232 Cook Rd to Sedro Woolley.  Go through about 3 roundabouts.  The Rite Aid is on the right side, opposite from the Forest Service Office and the Arco Station.  The address is 851 Moore Street.  Note that this is a new meeting spot, chosen because they have a public restroom and also when we leave, we don’t have to go across busy traffic.
The group will leave promptly at 10 am.

From Renton it is approximately a 1.5 hour drive (80 miles) to the meeting place.  Then another 35 miles to the collection site..

Swift Creek flows into the Baker Lake reservoir and you will need waders (or hip boots) to cross the stream and get to the gravel beds. Usually in March there is still snow along the roadway and on the river bank.  So access may require climbing over snow berm and walking through some deep snow and down snow covered embankment.  Tools – shovel (optional), bucket, and garden pick. Collecting is in the stream bed as well as the gravel beds further downstream, so a pair of PVC gloves would be handy (the water can be pretty cold). The water is usually 1-2 feet deep (or more) in places, depending on snow melt runoff.   Roads are good pavement, with some hard pack snow and ice in places this time of year.

Roger Danneman ( roger.danneman@gmail.com ; 425-228-8781 or 425-757-3506 cell).

Updated: March 20, 2022 — 7:29 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  Thanks to everyone who came out for our February club meeting – it was a fun one, with our own Roger Danneman presenting the highlights of our field trips to come for 2026. Several club members brought their impressive best finds from 2025 for show and tell. Speaking of field trips – our first field trip of the year is in the books, with a mildly snowy day at the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River up by Ol’ One Lane Bridge outside of Acme, Washington. The variety of rocks this year was excellent, thanks in part to …

Meeting Announcements

  • Maureen Carlisle, Former Docent at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, will take us through A Day on a Dig: “Over the years I’ve been asked about what it is like to be on a dino dig, so I’d like to answer some of these questions. I’ll cover some of the practical aspects of both archaeology and paleontology, as I have had the pleasure of being involved in both.” Show and Tell: bring a fossil or artifact that you’ve found or collected.

  • 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. 

  • Our own Mike Blanton will bring his expertise to this club meeting program – he will share the tools, tips and tricks he has developed to drill holes in stones and minerals so you can do more with the rocks you find. Show and Tell: bring a rock you’d like to make into something else.

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