SADDLE MOUNTAIN

 

Saddle Mountain Field Trip by Dan Wood Several members and guest of our club gathered for the always-popular Saddle mountain field trip for petrified wood. If you know where to go, you can find on the top of Saddle Mountain layers of sedimentary rock between layers of basaltic rocks of the Columbia River basalt (CRB) group. The petrified wood we were collecting had been deposited in a lake, which apparently existed during one of many periods of time in which there were no eruptions. Buried in the lake's muddy bottom were trees washed in from the mountains, as well as those which grew locally such as the famous ginkgo. Color was generally white with browns, tans, and yellows and sometimes red streaked through the white matrix. Petrified wood is the official Washington State Gemstone.

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DAMON MINE

September 2006 Rocky Trails I remember as a young boy while on vacation with my family touring ghost towns in Montana that we happened upon large hole in the ground caused by the collapse of a shallow mine tunnel. Of course, I wanted to enter and explore the mine but my mother would have none of that and forbade me to enter. I was never able to let go of the curiosity as to where the tunnel led and spent long hours daydreaming about abandoned mines and what might be found in them. That experience was like a seed, which grew into a hobby of mine exploration, a hobby that enveloped my every free moment during the 1980s and still continues to a lesser extent to this day. It's interesting to note that had I entered that first mine, I would have no doubt been overcome by "swamp gas" as that mine was almost certainly a coal mine, which is something a person should never enter; thanks Mom! On July 22nd, the Club had its field trip to the Damon Mine up Money Creek to collect minerals. The Damon Mine is a favorite of rockhounds due to its easy access, great minerals, and relative safety.

Our group, consisting of some 20 persons with 7 or 8 vehicles, met in Monroe and caravanned to the mine some 10 miles SW of Skykomish. We were in a deep mountain valley whose sides were covered by huge evergreens shooting straight up into the blue sky. I could feel the excitement of the group building as we gathered at the entrance and prepared to enter. We gathered our flashlights and tools, then made our way into the cool, dark tunnel. Right away, the overwhelming sense of darkness became an almost impenetrable medium as we tried to force more power from our feeble lights. The tunnel seemed to shrink as we groped our way deeper into the blackness.

The mine consists of a primary bore some 1,400 feet into the mountain crossing two ore veins along the way. The first vein is called the Damon vein and has some 800 feet of tunneling on the main level. At the end of the primary tunnel is the second or Priestly vein, which consists of another 500 feet of tunnels. We took the first left and entered the tunnel containing the Damon vein which ranges from 1 inch to 5 feet in width. The vein crosses the bore from the upper left to the lower right and glitters with quartz, pyrite and galena. Pure mountain spring water drips from the ceiling creating a slightly muddy walk along old rail tracks so badly rusted as to be almost decomposed.

After about 30 minutes, our eyes had adjusted to the darkness, our ears accustomed to the echo, and we seemed to forget that we were deep underground in an abandoned mine. The big hammers and chisels came out and all through the mine the sound of metal striking metal rang like the days of old, and happy voices were once again shouting of glorious finds. We collected for about an hour and a half at which time the official trip ended. Outside the mine we cleaned specimens we had gathered in the dark and were very often pleasantly surprised to find nice specimens of galena, pyrite, and-was that silver in the quartz!? A couple of us even ended up with some nice little quartz crystals.

HISTORY: In 1889, Alexander McCartney found a rich vein of galena in rocky outcrops on a ridge below Mt. Phelps and claimed it and others nearby as the Apex group. In 1901, a road was built to the mine from the town of Miller River, then called Berlin. With the help of investors, a narrow gauge railroad was built in 1909 connecting the Apex mines with the Great Northern Railroad at Berlin; however, the only locomotive ever to travel its length lost its footing on its maiden trip as it arrived at the mine and went careening back down until a sharp curve sent the engine off the track where it lay for many years before being scrapped. After that, the mine owners used gravity to move the full ore cars from the mines to Berlin and horses to move the ore cars from Berlin back to the mines. In the late 1950s, a Canadian company leased the property and worked the Damon until the mid '60s.

The mine has since been popular with rockhounds.

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FIELD TRIP REPORT: UTAH!

The NSL&MC Utah field trip met officially in the vicinity of Moab, Utah, in southeastern Utah (gateway to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks) on Tuesday afternoon, September 11, 2007. The field trip leader was Pat, who was in quest of petrified wood rounds. With a history of experience in finding rounds, he was excited to share his knowledge and search with the club. Joining him were club members Jerry, two Ricks, and I. During the second week of the trip, we were joined by one of Pat’s fellow wood enthusiasts, Dave, and his son-in-law, Nate.

The initial trip schedule was suggested by Pat, who encouraged members to provide input. The Ricks started gleaning information from outside sources and soon the trip evolved into a menu of possibilities that depended on many variables—and the actual schedule was very flexible. Dave’s knowledge of one vicinity played a role in that flexibility.

As Rick 1 and I pulled into our first site—late because of a hay truck fire in route, we could see that cars were already scouting out the material. Pat had set up his trailer and was waiting for us, so we took off in search of Pigeon Blood Agate—a clear-to-white agate with red blotches within. It was the start of a pattern that followed nearly every day: climb into Pat’s 4-wheel drive pick-up and head to a locale. We went to a site of colorful hills of soil laced with the agate and some nondescript material. But there were also gastroliths, which stood out because their rounded, polished surface contrasted with the surrounding material. It was the setting sun that forced us to make the 10-minute return to our camp site.

That evening, as on many, we craned our necks to look at the star-studded sky. The Milky Way was there in all its glory as well as shooting stars and satellites zooming across our field of vision. On other nights, we got out a telescope to more closely view celestial objects such as the banding and moons of Jupiter.

We spent another full day in that vicinity following other leads. We found some very colorful and beautifully patterned travertine, then started down many roads (again, all five rockhounds in Pat’s pickup) looking for other material. One of the specimens not on the list was the large mudstone slab containing ripple marks. Throughout the trip, there were signs of resource “mining” and this area was no exception; huge trucks were constantly bringing in equipment to be used to set up a new gas well.

On Thursday, we headed for our next site, but not before we looked for petrified ironwood and colorful (but elusive) agates on our way into Moab. At Moab, we stocked up for a long run of dry camping (no facilities—as in no food, water, electricity, or restrooms). Pat led our caravan of four cars to a beautiful location close to Canyonlands. We camped on red soil amidst red-rock formations and a tree or two. By this time, the late afternoon ritual of coming together for a refreshing beverage and a snack had been established. I suspect it will be a part of all future multi-day trips as will the morning coffee routine initiated by Pat.

On Friday, we experienced one of Pat’s wood-finding tools—his ATV (all-terrain vehicle) that he transported in the back of his pickup (Actually, the ATV appears to be a typical mode of transport in Utah.) Pat could go up cobbled washes and climb rock ledges. He led us to a remote site that was stunning for its abundance of wood. We collected wood of all sizes and viewed stunning specimens that will stay in place for a long time, if not forever. That being said, Pat’s ATV eased the logistics of collecting. He made several trips into the backcountry to bring out the specimens collected by the group. On Saturday, the group headed to the Red Canyon area by way of Blanding, Utah, and to which Bill Blandin says his family has an affiliation. We camped in the vicinity of Natural Bridges National Monument, again against a backdrop of spectacular scenery. This time, we watched clouds and lightening storms flirt with the rock ramparts, but we stayed dry during our rockhounding forays.

From this site, Pat took us to several locales for wood on Sunday. We found araucaria and schilderia. The woodworthia remained elusive and Pat will confirm whether the articulated segments of a small tree we found were gingko. At one site, very colorful agate ledge material was spotted and Pat and Rick wrestled a large piece out of the wash with a hand-truck—one of Pat’s other wood-collecting tools—and loaded it into his pickup that he had driven over some very rough terrain in order to facilitate the agate’s collection. As in so many other places, huge specimens of petrified wood logs will be collected in photos only.

On Monday, we were off to Starr Springs Campground (site of a former ranch) to meet up with Dave and Nate. The route to our site—in the vicinity of Lake Powell—was one spectacular view after another. After arriving, Dave (on ATV) immediately led us to our first adventure—one which all but Pat declined. The colorful agate/wood was located at the bottom of a gorge. Being rockhounds but not rock-climbers, we decided to scout for agate on the sure-footed surface of the rimrock and surrounding plain. While we found small agate chips, Pat, Dave, and Nate returned with heavy backpacks of colorful material. As was often the case, Pat collected for us and the club. His goal is to collect wood rounds but, in their absence, he collected material that he then shared with us. The steep climb in and out of the canyon, however, were above and beyond the call of duty. But fatigue didn’t get in the way of an evening viewing the moon’s terminator with the telescope—peeking amidst the scrub oak (and the wild turkey’s within) that dominated this campground and forced us to don warmer clothing for the first time on the trip. On Tuesday, Dave led the group to a canyon basin that had been a former mine site. The road was essentially impassable (except for Pat’s ATV, as we found out at the end of the day), so we all expected to carry our finds up a long, steep path and, for the most part, did. The material in this canyon was spectacular—a jasper/agate material with reds and golds littered the ground in many places. Oh, and the scenery was stunning—something that was never taken for granted but in abundance on this trip.

On Wednesday, we explored still another area in the vicinity of the Starr Springs campground—this time in the Hansen Creek area. We walked at the base of the hills while Pat, Dave, and Nate headed further down the creek (dry) on their ATVs in search of the elusive cycads. The best hunting was at the end of the hills, where bits of colorful wood mixed with colorful coprolites, which were definitely different in form than those that are typically found in club members’ collections. The trip started to wind down as members began to head in different directions. Jerry left to visit a sister in the Salt Lake City vicinity, Pat was headed back to Red Canyon to connect with other wood enthusiasts, and we and Rick 2 headed northwest for further collecting adventures.

On Thursday afternoon, we found obsidian on burned hillsides; Rick 1 delighted in collecting snowflake obsidian—a first for him. With daylight running out, we headed for a campsite near the ghost town of Joy. On Friday morning, we were met by local rockhounds, to explore the area. Except for a spring, Joy would be unidentifiable. We poked around in the neighboring hills to find lemon opal, wonderstone, multi-colored agate, and trilobites. Our hosts were knowledgeable about so many sites, but we finally had to call it a day as the shadows got longer. Many locales and material were left for another day. Rick 1 and I needed to make our way to Salt Lake City, so we left the other Rick and headed for Eureka.

To complete our journey, we stopped by Dave’s house to look at his rock polishing set-up. He enjoys creating and perfecting equipment on which to polish bookends—a typical use for the wood he finds. Not only are they beautiful—with the natural “bark” remaining, but they represent something that lived in the past—the reason Pat gets such a thrill out of collecting wood rounds. Our last stop was at Pat’s sister’s home. Ruth has one of the premier collections of petrified wood. It is attractively displayed throughout her house. Much of it she collected in the field and other specimens have been acquired through many avenues, and she has many rare specimens in her collection. It was a very brief visit with such a gracious hostess. As life returned to a normal routine for most of us, Pat was scheduled to meet up with the “Fossils for Fun” group from California before attending a 3-day seminar on petrified wood, and then on to a few more days in the field before returning to the Northwest.

For me, this was a very intense rockhounding trip, with an extra dimension provided by Pat. We owe him many thanks for leading us on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. We know there will be more trips, but this is one for the record books (and memories). Thanks, Pat.

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