On Sat. June 7th we went to Little Naches for Thunder Eggs, Lily Pad Jasper, and Leaf Fossils. Temperatures were in the low 80’s with beautiful blue skies and a nice breeze up on the ridge. Gorgeous scenery going over Chinook Pass. We had 26 people and 16 vehicles on this trip. Very pleasant conditions for digging. We spent 2 1/2 hours at the Thunder Egg site. Blue chalcedony in various forms, but of course we’re mostly looking for full or broken-half thundereggs. After hiking back to the cars we drove on to the Lily Pad site. Easy pickings there. After that we stopped at the mud stone formation for leaf fossils. WA State geology maps peg this as a 35 million year old mudstone. So the carbon imprints and leaf outlines we find embedded in that stone, are that old. A few nice specimens were found. Certainly a fun day.
List of attendees: Jason S. with his son and 2 friends, Jeff C. & partner, Julie & Gina M. & Erik, Kerri-Lynn D. & John, Jarrod D., Scott H., Colin O. and girlfriend, Chris V., Josh D. & Eli, Andrea M., Kelly G., Justin K. & Matthew, John N., Breanna P. & Julie, and of course me.
For July I have 2 outings scheduled – July 12th to Greenwater for the black agate and common opal, and July 19th to Crystal Mtn north of Ellensburg for agate, jasper, and geodes. No trips scheduled for August, but we have our club picnic on August 16th at Lake Wilderness.
Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide
