Burma Road - Greenwater

Because today was the first nice day we've had when I was scheduled off, I decided to head up Burma Road on the Hancock Tree Farm land. I've had written directions to many collecting sites up there, but haven't been able to get to them because of the snow. I was hoping that I could get up a little higher today because of the recent warmer temps.


The gate to the Tree Farm was open, so I headed on in and followed my written instructions and drove 7+ miles up the main road. There, I came to an intersection which was not marked. Well, it was, but the sign was laying on the ground. I decided to continue on the main road for a while, to see if I ran across another sign, but I didn't, so I turned around and headed back to the intersection. I stopped and noticed the sign on the ground, and sure enough, it was the road I was looking for. 


I drove the 1+ miles to an unmarked 3 road intersection and reread my directions. They told me that small thundereggs would be in a mudslide area on the left side of the road. I backtracked and noticed a muddy area along the road, where rocks were eroding out, so I found a place to pull off and got out to investigate. 

Mudslide Area on Raod 6110

Right away I started finding thundereggs, jasper, and seam agate. The thundereggs were fist sized which surprised me, since my directions said they would only be 3".  They were very pretty being red, black and brown with bright blue colored veins running through them. I discovered that the best specimens were located in a dark black area of the hill. While I searched the slide area, Bandito ran around, chasing birds and sniffing out interesting scents. 

Darker Areas in Side of Hill

Because the area was wet and had standing water nearby, I was eventually chased off by the many no-see-ums in the area. I ended up with about 10 lbs of nice looking agate.

A Few of the Larger Thundereggs

I decided to head on to the next site and try my luck. Unfortunately, my directions were not that clear. They told me to head .1 mile further down the road and turn left. There was no road going left .1 mile down the road. The only thing close was the unmarked 3 road intersection. I decided to head for the next site on my list.

I headed back to the previous intersection and was to drive 2+ miles further down the main road. It said to enjoy the view at the 2 mile mark which I did. But I couldn't make it any further because I ran into snow on the road. So I turned around and headed back down the thunderegg road.

The Viewpoint with Mt Rainier Behind the Clouds

Again at the 3 road intersection I drove straight for a while and it soon became obvious this wasn't a main road, because it got so bad. So, I turned around and went back to the intersection again. Coming from the opposite direction, I noticed that the road on my immediate left seemed to be a major road and was heading in the basic direction I knew the road should be heading. I also noticed that the other road to my immediate left was a dead end and that a car was parked down there. That was a good sign, because maybe they were rock hunting. I decided to head down the dead end road.

As I headed down the hill, I realized that the rocks on the road were very big, placed for logging trucks, and prayed I wouldn't hurt my car or tires. I was also slipping and bouncing around a lot. I put it in low gear and just kept going. A little ways down, I noticed either a landslide or an area of digging on the side of the road, but because there was no turn around, I kept going. Because the road unnerved me, I turned around as soon as I found a good spot and decided to head home. The climb back up the road went better than I expected and when I drew even with the landslide area, I stopped and got out to check it out. Boy am I glad I did! 

I hit the geode jackpot! Everywhere I looked there were crystals shining up at me with various colored agate linings. Someone had dug a deep hole, but it looked like the geodes were scattered everywhere in the rocks.

Geode Jackpot!

Once again, I noticed these crumbly shining black rocks everywhere and the geodes seemed to be eroding out of the dark areas. I picked up round nodules, large amethyst crystals and large greenish colored rocks that appeared to be full of crystal and agate. It was a rock hounds' paradise.

Agates and Geodes and Crystals Oh My!

I picked up about 10lbs of nice crystals and decided I had better head back down or someone might start worrying about me. I know that there will be plenty left at this spot, since it appears to be a new find due to the recent logging road cut. One of the best pieces I found was a large piece of amethyst crystals just laying near the road.

Amethyst Crystal Cluster 

I'm already counting the days until I can go back, start digging and find some large geodes! There are probably lots more down below!

Suggested Reading:

The Miner's Geology and Prospector's Guide: for Mining Students, Miners...