The Petrified Digest Published monthly by the Ginkgo Mineral Society, Inc. PO Box 303, Wenatchee, Washington 98807

Transcription

1 March 2011

2 Published monthly by the Ginkgo Mineral Society, Inc. PO Box 303, Wenatchee, Washington MEETINGS 3rd Saturday of the month, 2:00 PM Douglas County Fire Station, 377 Eastmont Ave, East Wenatchee OFFICERS President Ron Gray Vice President Pat Russell Secretary Carol Smith Treasurer Charleen Prevett Past President, member Executive Board Larry Shaw COORDINATORS Field Trips Shop & Equipment Program/Education Publicity Social Chelan County Fair Booth Museum Newsletter Web Site Ron Gray / Larry Shaw Bob Witt / Ron Gray Charleen Prevett Maxine Anderson Lori Ludeman Valerie Hampton Newsletter address: ginkgonews@yahoo.com Jill Timm jtimm@aol.com The Ginkgo Mineral Society was formed to promote the education of mineralogy and geology; to encourage the collecting of rocks and minerals; to provide field excursions to mineral collecting areas; and to promote interest in lapidary work. DUES: Individual - $20.00 Senior - $15.00 Family - $30.00 Lifetime (20+ yrs) - Free Exchange bulletins are welcome and appreciated. President Ron's Motto: Pull on an oar, don't just ride in the boat. Club Calendar March April 2 Workshop Spokane Rock Show 19 Regular Meeting /auction Hosts Carol Smith / Wanda Shaw 26 Workshop Regular Meeting Hosts Hamptons / Pat Russell 23 Gold Show May 7-8 Rock, Gem & Jewelry Sale 14 Workshop Regular Meeting Hosts Gayle Savage / Christy Price 28 Workshop Workshop 10-3 ROCK SHOP HOURS: 10 am 3 pm Saturdays, except meeting and field trip days, and selected rock shows. Check the calendar above for scheduled shop days. Safety glasses required - dust mask recommended - paper towels requested Bob Witt opens the workshop at 10 am, and if no one is there at 1 pm he closes up but give him a call at if you need to arrange later hours.

3 VOL 33, ISSUE 3 THE PETRIFIED DIGEST MARCH 2011 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Happy March, It's almost spring and things will start changing fast. Some big news: Ginkgo Gem Show will be making a comeback during Apple Blossom Festival. Richard Prevett and I have been trying to put together something a little different. As things stand now, Ginkgo Rock, Gem & Jewelry show will be held at Walla Walla Point Park. That is the park across from Town Toyota Center. The dates are May 7th and 8th in the area surrounding Shelter #1. The board has decided to try to keep it as simple as possible by holding it outside on the order of the old-fashioned tailgate powwow. We hope to have at least 10 vendors and will be offering members free space for anything they may want to sell. We will also have a limited number of cases under the shelter for static displays. The club will have a table for raffle and silent auction activity. Anyone that is interested in getting involved please contact Richard or myself. There are lots of opportunities for participation. This is a fairly simple way for the club to bring back our show. Everybody we have contacted is really enthusiastic about a new show. Don't forget about the meeting Saturday at the Douglas County PUD auditorium. There will be a short business meeting and then a rock auction for members. Hope to see you there! Ron Gray, President ******* TIDBITS FROM THE FEBRUARY MEETING A program on the formation of the universe was presented by Dan Bozich. Refreshments were provided by Howard and Candi Floyd. Greg Peek volunteered to be Superintendent for the Chelan County Fair committee. Jill Timm is still asking for folks to submit any information to keep the web page updated & interesting. Val is also asking for stories & pictures to fill our newsletter. The tailgate rock sale at Apple Blossom will be called Gingko Rock, Gem, and Jewelry Show. Richard Prevett, Carol Smith & Ron Gray are working on details. Anyone wanting to car pool to the April 9, Spokane Gem Show, be at Top Foods in E. Wenatchee at 7 a.m. Show & Tell: Lois Jean Day displayed a wall hanging she had made from wicker, rocks and gems. Liz Forrer shared findings and interesting tales from her recent trip to Hawaii. While there, she visited club members Dennis and Ellen Osier, who moved there last year. She also collected a sample of fresh lava with a long tool. The lump of material was fused to the metal fork used to dip it out of the still-molten volcanic flow. Now that's a hot collecting site!

4 MARCH 2011 Page 2 UTAH ROAD TRIP -- FEBRUARY 2011 By Richard Prevett This last January, I was up at Bobby Allen s house and he told me about a trip he took with his brother Glen to southeastern Utah. Down through Hanksville and back up through Moab, he said, was a spectacular drive. When I came home, I told Charleen what Bobby had said about their trip. She went on line and found photos of beautiful red agate limb casts and other red agates and jaspers found at a site called Yellow Cat Flats, near Green River, Utah. The Prevett vehicle on the road to rockin' At 6:30 AM on Saturday, February 12, 2011, Charleen and I pulled out of our driveway. At 3:00 PM Sunday, we were just outside Green River. With enough daylight left, we drove the extra 50 miles to the first of the Yellow Cat sites. We were able to pick up a nice bag of pretty agates before the light completely failed us. We ended up visiting seven different sites within easy driving distances of our motel in Green River. Walking and picking up float is our favorite way to collect rocks, so all the sites we visited this time was for float. Two of the sites didn t produce diddly, while most of the other sites had an abundance of material, as much as we wanted to pack out. Although we didn t find anything quite like in the photos we d seen, we did find beautiful red/clear/yellow agates, jasper and agate nodules, some petrified wood, and small fossils. I m also sure I found some thumb-sized pieces of petrified dino bone. Above, and below left: Layers of different colored material lend interest to Utah's land formation profiles. Our original plan was to spend the first few days around Green River and head south for a couple days. Bobby had recommended we do a loop that would take us south through Hanksville on to Blandon, then north to Moab which would bring us back through Green River on our way home. But as so often happens, plans change, and sometimes, without notice. Considering the time of year, we enjoyed excellent rocking weather. The temperature never rose above

5 March 2011 Page 3 50 degrees, but it would be sunny until early afternoon at which time it would cloud up and look scary. When the wind is calm, 50 degrees feels nice and warm. Although we could see what looked like snow storms in the distant mountains all around us every day, we didn t have any falling weather or encounter muddy roads -- only a few small mud holes. One road we wanted to take looked a little risky with too much snow and mud where the road went up the shady side of the hill. Two days later, we could drive right up with no problem. The first time we went to Yellow Cat Flats, we were within about five miles of the site and the ground was still covered with six inches of snow. The road was bare and dry but the ground was covered with snow. We drove on wondering if our whole trip was to be in vain rock-wise when suddenly we topped a rise and dropped down into a small valley and NO MORE SNOW! As it turned out, every site we visited was almost completely clear of snow. Charleen shows her find Utah is known for its geologic beauty, and driving into some of these sites took us back into little canyons and draws where the sandstone and old mud together create a surreal world of shapes and colors. We walked among these mysterious shapes, picking up their small fragments where time, unimaginable time, is locked away in jewels lying in the dirt. Wow, if I knew how, I could wax poetic. But take my word for it, the landscape is spectacular in just about any direction you want to look. If you ever get a chance, check out the San Rafael Reef. Come Friday, we had been rocking all day, every day for four and a half days. Friday is the day to stay around town. We went to the local museum dedicated to John Wesley Powell and his exploration of the Colorado and Green Rivers. We cleaned out and organized the car for traveling, did some shopping and just plain rested. Saturday morning, we planned on heading south on the drive Bobby had recommended.

6 MARCH 2011 Page 4 Checking out the weather channel every morning had become routine. Every day it called for snow somewhere in our area, but we had been very lucky and no precipitation fell. Friday morning had started out grey and cold and it stayed that way all day. We got up early Saturday morning to snow and rain mixed and the forecast was grim, to say the least. The prediction was for maybe two days of decent weather before one big snow storm after another was going to slam into everything between Green River, Utah and East Wenatchee for the next three or four days. Charleen rockhounding at Shadscale North, Utah A quick council and we headed, not south, but northwest. Saturday, we crossed over two passes where the road conditions were icy with freezing rain and snow. We also found those same road conditions between Twin Falls and Boise the next morning, the last day of our journey. We made it home safely about 4 PM Sunday the 20th. We had driven just over 2300 miles in the past 8 days. All and all, we had a wonderful trip. We encountered some bad weather on the road, but we just took it easy and didn t get in a hurry. But... we found beautiful rocks. We saw breathtaking vistas. We saw wildlife: golden eagles and their lunch, the groundhogs; antelope; deer; and get this, a big herd of wild burros. We visited a carbon dioxide geyser that almost erupted while we were there. It was more like a burp, Charleen at Shadscale north, Utah Left and below: if you ask me. wild burros at Shadscale south Would we go back? Yes. We want to do Bobby s loop. Plus, and this is a big plus, some of the sites have lots more to offer. If anyone wants more info on any of the sites we visited, I would be glad to share any information we have. Richard Prevett Story & photos courtesy Richard & Charleen Prevett

7 FEBRUARY 2011 Page 5 ROGER, THE ROCKHOUND SEZ: March is a busy month. We spring forward, welcome a new season, and look forward to rock hunting in earnest. Remember to set aside some items for the club yard sale while you are doing your spring cleaning. UPCOMING EVENTS AROUND THE REGION Pacific Northwest Rock and Gem Shows From the NFMS Website March Sat 10-6, Sun 10-4 Sweet Home Rock and Mineral Society 62nd Annual Rock & Gem Show Sweet Home High School Activity Gym 1641 Long St., Sweet Home, OR April 1-2 Fri 8:30-6, Sat 9-5 Panorama Gem & Mineral Club 11th Annual Show Fort Colville Grange Hall (1 mile east, 157 Hwy 20) Colville, WA SPOKANE ROCK SHOW April 8-10, 2011 Fri/Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5 Rock Rollers of Spokane 52nd Annual Rock, Gem, Jewelry & Mineral Show Spokane Fair & Expo Center N. 604 Broadway & Havana, Spokane, WA April Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4 Grays Harbor Gem & Geology Society 43rd Annual Earth's Treasures Gray's Harbor County Fairgrounds 32 Elma/McCleary Road Elma, WA April 30-May 1, Sat 10-5, Sun 10-5 West Seattle Rock Club 45th Annual 2011 Rock Show Alki Masonic Temple th Ave SW, West Seattle, WA GINKGO ROCK, GEM & JEWELRY SHOW May 7-8 Sat 10-6, Sun 10-4 Walla Walla Point Park, Wenatchee, WA ******** April 9-10 Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5 Mt. Baker Rock and Gem Club Golden Family Affair - 50th Anniversary Mt. Baker Rock and Gem Show Bloedel-Donovan Park Community Center 2214 Electric Ave Bellingham, WA April Sat 10-6, Sun 10-4 Yakima Rock & Mineral Club 50th Annual Parade of Gems NEW LOCATION Yakima National Guard Armory 2501 Airport Lane, Yakima, WA April Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4 Lakeside Gem & Mineral Club Annual Show - Benton Fairgrounds 1500 S Oak St, Kennewick, WA May the road rise to meet you May the wind be always at your back May the sun shine warm upon your face And the rain fall soft upon your fields And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand -Irish Blessing-

8 February 2011 IMPORTANT NOTICE The MARCH CLUB MEETING is at Douglas County PUD Auditorium use the lower level parking area 1151 Valley Mall Parkway, East Wenatchee, WA Agenda includes a brief meeting and a Rock Auction for paid members Be sure to bring your dues up to date to get in on the fun! Send your article ideas, trip notes or photos to ginkgonews@yahoo.com CLASSIFIED ADS OPEN TO MEMBERS OF THE GINKGO MINERAL SOCIETY WANTED: Lost wax tools, equipment and supplies. Call Sam, MEMBER LINKS Check out Liz Forrer's web site: Valerie Hampton, Editor PO Box 303 Wenatchee WA 98807