July 17th, 2021 Greenwater Field Trip Report

On July 17th we went up to the Greenwater area for black agate, jasper, and common opal. There were 25 people in 13 vehicles. We had good weather – overcast and about 60-65 degrees. The black agate site is on an unmarked spur road off of 7222 and goes deep into the woods 1 1/2 miles having a couple of Y intersections. So we unfortunately had a couple of vehicles that got separated and lost the group. I’m going to have to be more proactive in implementing and explaining a signaling method using light flashing up the “wagon train” so that this doesn’t happen again. I’ll also bring a pair of cobra radios to use between the lead car and the caboose. We did manage to recollect everyone further up the hill on the way to the 2nd site.
Anyway, the black agate site was very productive. Everyone found some nice material. Some of my haul is colorful, which I haven’t had a chance to cut and polish yet, but looks like a combination of agate and jasper with black, gold, and red. Quite a bit of opal was dug by the group as well.
The 2nd site was up near the top of FR70 by Government Meadows. The spur road has been gated as of this year and now requires a 1/2 mile walk to the dig sites. We had about 6 or 7 vehicles that continued up. I collected a little bit of the red opal, some of the grey, and found a few pieces of petrified wood.

 

Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide.  Roger.Danneman@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: August 15, 2021 — 5:53 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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