July 19th, 2025 Crystal Mtn Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sat. July.19th we went to Crystal Mountain north of Ellensburg for geodes, crystal plates, jasper, and agate. A lucky break in the weather kept the temperatures in the low to mid 60s. 1st stop was a site where we’ve been busting through soft basalt and finding crystal lined geodes and agate nodules. Special thanks to Peggy for helping folks identify their finds at that site. 2nd stop was to a ravine where we find crystal and multi-colored jasper/agate. More of a challenging road to get into that site, but I love the colorful material and interesting patterns we find in the rocks there. This site is on our schedule again in October, but last year we had to hike in because rain made the road impassable. That’s why I wanted to make sure we got in there during a dry season.  You’ll notice burned trees in some of the photos which was a result of the spread of the Jolly Mountain fire in 2017.

The group consisted of 22 people in 15 vehicles:
Nik B., John & Dave C. (thanks for all your help at both sites), Paul A. & Peggy S. (thanks for all your help at the geode site), Kelly G., Terry F., Arleaha W. +2, Philip T., Michele M., Ben K., Jarrod D., Will & Drew C., Noel B., Jonathan C., Jackie B. +2, and me.

Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: November 8, 2025 — 5:27 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  Thanks to everyone who came to the club camp out at Teanaway campground near Cle Elum last month. After a brief spell of rain the first night, we were blessed with sun, clear skies, and rockhounding the rest of the weekend. And a big thanks to Roger Danneman for doing all of the trip organizing, and keeping us all warm and well fed during the weekend. This month I’ll be giving a talk at our club meeting about how to use Gaia for rockhounding. If you have specific questions, please bring them along or feel free to email …

Meeting Announcements

  • 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!

  • December’s date and time is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

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