Feb-Mar-Apr-May, 2025 Summary Mt Baker, Saddle Mtn, First Creek, Biggs Field Trip Reports

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 was extraordinarily high due to warm rains and the resultant melting snow. Our usual picking area was covered by the river. But thankfully Noelle and Paul discovered a great unpicked area down the fisheries road about 1/3 mile walk. We had a group of 20 people on this trip.

On March 29th we went to Saddle Mtn which was a change from the originally scheduled Baker Lake / Swift Creek trip. I figured the high water would prevent us from getting to the gravel beds and snow is still covering all of our mountain sites so the best alternative was Saddle Mtn for petrified wood. We had a beautiful spring day and a group of 25 people on this trip.

On April 29th we went to Saddle Mtn again. I originally wanted to start this outing with an educational session at the Ginkgo State Park but I didn’t get enough interest in that. The group met in Mattawa for breakfast and then went up to a new dig area that John & Dave suggested at the previous outing. We had a group of 12 people on this trip. I unfortunately missed it due to illness, but Noelle led the group up. I can’t get enough of the pics in the Tumbler, but our Facebook Group page has a lot of great pics from Scott & Laurie, Michelle M., Noelle, and Julie. If you’re not a FB Group member, it’s a fun place to share our finds.

On May 4th Loren M. led the group into First Creek.  This is a 2-mile hike on good road-bed but with a few significant hills.  Then one has to navigate some steep slopes.  But the payoff is nice jasper, agate, and geodes.  We had 12 people on this trip.

On May 17th we went to Rufus, Oregon for Biggs Jasper.  This is a private quarry where we pay $5/pound for the rock we collect.  We had a beautiful spring day on the hills above the Columbia River.  12 people joined me on this trip.

No pics for this post since I’ve summarized them.  My intent is just to record our activities.

Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: November 5, 2025 — 7:49 pm

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.

  • This meeting will cover the “Geologic History of Washington State.” The meeting will be an interactive program designed to tell the story of the complex geologic history of our state. It works for kids as well as adults, with families working together to assemble the state.   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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