On Sat. Sept 12th we went to Frost Mtn south of Cle Elum for jasper/agate/chert and crystal. The material from here has some unique patterns and colors not found at any of our other sites. This is a long drive to get into, but still one of my favorite areas. We had a fairly big group with 12 vehicles in the caravan. I missed a crucial turn and took everyone on a scenic route realizing it after 30 minutes of driving. With a lot of help from the group we backtracked to the missed turn and made our way up the correct side of Taneum Ridge. That area does have a confusing web of roads. After making it to the parking spot and hiking up the trail 3/4 mile, we were all finding nice jasper, agate, and crystal. Temperatures stayed near 60 degrees and made it a nice day for the hike and collecting. The last part of the group made it back to the cars at 5:00 when a few raindrops started showing up. The rock pics show some of the material I collected with the last pic showing rocks I’ve collected and polished from the last 2 years. Some of the rocks look a bit junky on the outside, but cut pieces can reveal beautiful patterns inside and is generally nice and solid and takes a great polish. Special thanks to Jeff for radio assist and to Nicole & Ryan for GPS mapping assistance. I should also mention that after much discussion the next day with Gregg & Victor, the trail we end up taking is on maps as 3100-115. The Jeep Trail is just a bit north and is 4W310. And the Frost Hiking trail is 1366. These are some details that I’ve previously miscommunicated.
Attendees: Jeff C. +3, Vanessa L. +dog Lily., Randy P. & Jennifer, Nicole & Ryan A. + kids Cuyler & Ellie, Michele M., Amy D. & Mark, Jeramy P., Kerri Lyn D. & John, Steve F., Gregg H. & Victor, Savanna & Alex, guest Kacey H., and me.
Our next scheduled outing is our weekend campout to Teanaway and Redtop Sept 25-27.
