Oct 17th, 2026, Crystal Mtn Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sat. Oct 17th we went to Crystal Mountain north of Ellensburg for geodes, crystal plates, jasper, and agate. We spent the entire outing at what we call Geode Hill. The day started out cloudy and cool but the sun prevailed and turned it into a beautiful weather day. Thankfully the side of the hill that we were working on was protected from the wind. Amazing geodes and crystal plates were found in the basalt layer as well as surface agate and jasper further down the hill.

The group consisted of 21 people in 13 vehicles:
Peggy S., Jeff C. & dog Cooper, Venessa L. & dog Lily, Terry F. & Bonnie, Steve F., David L. & Mike, Kacey O., Chris V. & Nathan & Ren, Arleaha W. & Don, Philip T., Michele M., Scott & Lauri M. & Dani, Matthew C., and me.

The days are getting shorter and colder. The last trip of the year is scheduled on Nov. 7th to First Creek and is weather dependent including driving conditions over the pass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: October 20, 2026 — 11:01 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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