Sept 6th, 2025 Frost Mtn Field Trip Report

Field trip reports

On Sat. Sept 6th 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 and I wanted to get this trip in before the hunting season began. We had a small group of 7 of us in 6 vehicles (more rocks for me). The morning started with a light rain at our meeting spot but it really turned out to be a decent day with temps in the low 70’s. The air was a little smoky from the Wildcat fire burning south of us by Bumping Lake. We hiked in with carts and wagons 3/4 mile to a rocky outcrop ridge and surface collected eroded material and chiseled out material from the relatively soft basalt. The rock pics show some of the material I collected with the last pic showing rocks I’ve collected and polished from last year’s trip. 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.

Attendees: Chris V., Ben & Alyssa K., Kayci E., Jarrod D., guest Courtney Z., and me.

Submitted by Roger Danneman CMS Field Trip Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: November 8, 2025 — 6:24 pm

Presidents Message

  • Digging It!  I hope you’ve all had a chance to get out and look for rocks during the lovely weather we enjoyed in July – it’s been mostly perfect rockhounding weather. And for those of you who were able to come on the field trips led by our fearless wagon master Roger Danneman, I hope you found some good material. Big thanks to Roger for getting us all out there and helping us find beautiful rocks! August is a bit of a break from the usual club meeting cadence – instead of having our club meeting on the second Thursday …

Meeting Announcements

  • Our August meeting will not be happening at the American Legion – instead, this month’s meeting is our annual club potluck and picnic on Saturday, August 15. Join us from 12-4 at Gene Coulon Park, South Shelter 2 – setup begins at 10:30am. Bring something you want to share and/or donate to the club auction, also happening during the picnic. 

  • September’s program is coming soon. We will update this page as soon as we know more.

  • 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!

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