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
