July 18th 2026 Crystal Mtn Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sat. July.18th we went to Crystal Mountain north of Ellensburg for geodes, crystal plates, jasper, and agate. A beautiful clear day and clear air with temps in the mid-70’s up at 4500 feet. We went to Geode Hill first It takes a lot out of a person to sit and bust through the soft basalt under the hot sun. Breezy, dusty, and no canopy there but very nice views. I only collected some surface agate there. After about 2 1/2 hours we went to the 2nd site to dig for agate/jasper/crystal. That site yielded some nice material with colors of dark blue, green, red, and orange. The road going in has a couple of spots that when muddy make it impassable, so I’m not sure if we’ll get in there next Oct. Might have to substitute another location.

The group consisted of 25 people in 13 vehicles:
Annie S. and dog Tess, Venessa L., Nicole A. family of 4, Jeanie L., Blossom S. family of 4, Jeramy P., Matt C., Arleaha W. group of 4, John M., Alexis W. & David B., Chris V., Zach S. +1, Martha C., and me.

Remember our CMS summer picnic this year is at Renton Coulon Park South Shelter on Saturday Aug. 15th. Details came out by e-mail on July 13th. Set-up is at 10:30 with Potluck at 12:00 and auction of club donated rocks and items to follow. It’s a popular park on summer weekends, so best to get there early for parking.
Other than the picnic, there are no scheduled trips in August. If a trip should arise, I’ll send out an announcement.

Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: July 20, 2026 — 8:39 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  I hope you’ve all had a chance to get out and look for rocks during the lovely weather we enjoyed in July – it’s been mostly perfect rockhounding weather. And for those of you who were able to come on the field trips led by our fearless wagon master Roger Danneman, I hope you found some good material. Big thanks to Roger for getting us all out there and helping us find beautiful rocks! August is a bit of a break from the usual club meeting cadence – instead of having our club meeting on the second Thursday …

Meeting Announcements

  • Our August meeting will not be happening at the American Legion – instead, this month’s meeting is our annual club potluck and picnic on Saturday, August 15. Join us from 12-4 at Gene Coulon Park, South Shelter 2 – setup begins at 10:30am. Bring something you want to share and/or donate to the club auction, also happening during the picnic. 

  • September’s program is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

  • 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!

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