Dendrites

Slide Bonanza!

Today I decided to head back down to the Toutle area and dig some more in the slide mentioned in the Field Trip Report “Gravel Pit Blues!!”.? I had a theory that there would be more agate in the dirt at the edge of the slide.

I first stopped at a gravel pit near Salmon Creek to check out a rumor that there was petrified wood located in the pit.? I did find some petrified wood, but it was not very good quality.? I also saw a small herd of elk browsing in the clear cut.

These guys might be able to lead me to some rocks.

These guys might be able to lead me to some rocks.

My next stop was the parking area for the slide site.? I got my gear ready and headed up the road.? It seemed that today was my day to see wildlife.? There were two deer feeding in the clear cut on my way in.

Curious onlookers?

Curious onlookers?

I finally parked my bike and started the climb to the slide.

The old gravel pit that started my trips to this area.

The old gravel pit that started my trips to this area.

I decided to hike to the slide from a different direction today so I could check out some more of the slope.? It was a pretty day and a nice hike.? The slide is in the middle before the large cliff.? It’s the first dirt you can see.

It looks like a long way to the slide from here.

It looks like a long way to the slide from here.

I finally arrived at the slide and started digging.? It didn’t take me long to start finding agate.? There was a lot of agate here.? I ended up carrying 83 pounds out and leaving another 20 pounds there.

This is a shot of the biggest piece.

Large pieces.

Large pieces.

The shifting ground broke all this agate into smaller pieces.? The largest I found was 10 pounds, but I did find quite a few softball sized pieces that went into my pack.? I was also able to find a few more opal encased agate nodules.

Roy had hiked in after me and we hollered back and forth across the gulley.? It was nice yelling with him, and talking after we both made it back to the trucks.

I quit digging at 1:00pm and made it back to the truck at 2:20pm.? I don’t think I would have hauled all the agate out, if I had realized it was going to be so heavy.

I did find one really nice softball sized agate with black dendrites in it.? That just added icing to the trip.

Dendrites are one of my favorite inclusions.

Dendrites are one of my favorite inclusions.

Thanks for joining me.

chasfire

The Search is ON!

Jerry spent all of ten minutes deciding that he would accompany me on a trip to the Toutle area to search for dendritic/sagenitic carnelian. ?My daughter found a nice piece of this material on a previous trip, and I wanted to locate some more.

A great find by Leilani.

A great find by Leilani.

I had also found a small piece of this fairly uncommon material at this location.

This find makes all the digging worth while.

This find makes all the digging worth while.

Jerry and I arrived at the parking site at about 9:30am on a day that promised to be rain free.

Getting ready to pedal.

Getting ready to pedal.

We pedaled and walked our bikes the 2 miles to near the dig site in a little under an hour, and headed into the woods.

Its all hiking from here.

It's all hiking from here.

After a short hike through the woods to a ridge top, I started digging in the soft soil. ?There has been digging here in the past and I have found some interesting material at this site.

Jerry couldn’t get into digging until after he checked out the creek.

The diggings not to strenuous.

Jerry just had to check out the creek.

This creek is quite shallow and always has quite a bit of small carnelian with an occasional larger piece in it.

I continued to dig and was rewarded with a few small pieces of material. ?The problem was that it was all covered in dirt and I was unable to tell if it would have sagenite until I got home to wash it up.

I did manage to pull myself away from the dirt long enough to admire the peace and quiet of the surrounding woods.

A mild Winter in Washingtons Woods.

A mild Winter in Washington's Woods.

I did spend some time hiking around and probing, and was rewarded with some nice material. ?Overall I probably brought home about 5 pounds of agate.

This spot seems to be lacking in jasper or petrified wood. ?I am not sure why, since I have found jasper and wood in areas not to far away.

Jerry and I rode our bikes back to the truck and headed home at around 3:30pm. ?It was an enjoyable day.

Thanks for joining us.

chasfire

After I got home and cleaned up my finds I didn’t have any sagenite. ?That just makes another trip necessary.