We drove from Enumclaw to the parking area to begin our hike to the Old Slope collection area.
Parking area for collection site is here: Parking Area The collection site is about 1/2 mile hike from the parking area. The hike in was generally easy with a slight gain in elevation and a couple of small streams to cross.
Our first look at the Old Slope
The Slope was steep and muddy. It didn’t slow the crew down much. There was a lot of material at the base of the slope that was easier to pick. Mostly Jasper and Agate. The mud made it difficult to actually see what you had. I am pretty sure I was not the only one to bring some leaverite home today.
I believe everyone left with material from old slope. By the time we got back to the parking area I know I was wishing I had a pack mule to carry me and the rocks.
Since it was such a nice day it was decided that we would continue up the road to check out some other collection sites Tony was aware of. I took advantage of the collection of CMS Members and got this photo.
We continued up the road to a site that was a good spot to eat some lunch and look for seam agate.
With a view like this it was hard not to enjoy the day.
The site is a road cut and the road was wide enough to allow parking on the shoulder. This site was a lot dryer since it was on the sunny side of the mountain. Good collecting from the bottom of the slope and in the ditch.
There was also some Jasper discovered. We tried to go even farther up the road but ran into snow and snowmobilers that had the road blocked. We turned around and called it a day. Some of us stopped and scoured the creek at the bottom of the hill since it was such a nice day.
It was a great day and thanks again to Tony Johnson for putting this trip together. Thanks for the folks from the Puyallup Valley Gem and Mineral Club for partnering with us today to make this trip a success.
Mark Hohn
CMS Board Member