COMPASS MENTUS

Last weeks trip to check out the geology of  areas in the Toutle River valley was partially successful.  However, I decided to go back and try again.

Today was the day.

The UW Precipitation Probability website (http://www.probcast.washington.edu) indicated that the chance of rain was very low, so I headed out at 7:10am.  I arrived at the parking area and quickly climbed on my bike to peddle the hills to the site.

Getting ready to ride.

It took me 40 minutes to peddle and walk the distance, with one stop to take a picture of an elk on the road.

Curious about an intruder!

Once I arrived and put on my waders, I headed up the creek to the check out the lower slopes of the ridges.  I used my probe and checked out all the areas where the slope either ended at the creek or leveled out before reaching the creek.

I found one spot where I was able to find some nice agate.

The slope is quite steep here.

I was pretty sure that the agate I found here came from up slope, since most of it was at least 2 feet above the level of the creek.

I spent most of my digging time at this location, but did take a few breaks and checked out the slopes up and down the creek.  There were areas that could have been old dig sites at the top of the ridge, and I found a few small agates at these places; but mostly I just probed and walked.

This is the best agate I found.

Not a bad find.

Here is a picture of the entire 10 pounds I dug out of this spot.

Doesn't look like 10 pounds!

And some closeups of the best.

Bright Red!

Deep Red!

I quit at about 2:00pm and headed back to the truck.  Further exploring of the ridges in this area is definitely in the future.

Thanks for joining me.

chasfire