Before leaving for New Mexico we got in a quick rockhounding trip to eastern Washington. Despite the horrible heat wave here right now we still managed to find some great rocks.
We drove State Route 410 over Chinook Pass and made a quick stop at what I think is called the Blue Bird Mine near Bear Gap. I have been here many times, but for my compadre it was a new experience. She is just not used to driving to the opening of a mine.
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| Mouth of Blue Bird (maybe Belle) Mine |
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| Nice Ore Specimen |
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| Large Tailing Pile |
We hung around the tailing pile and found a few nice ore specimens before we decided to move on to the Little Naches River.
When we got to the Little Naches River, the temps were getting pretty warm, so we pulled off and took a little hike back into the woods to view Horsetail Falls. Boy was the water low! It was pretty cool back near the falls though.
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| Horsetail Falls |
We drove a little ways down along the Little Naches River and finally found a shady spot to search the river for agates and thunder eggs. Someone else was there ahead of us adding rocks to their buckets. We were worried they got all the good rocks, but I soon realized that they were picking up too many to have gotten any real good ones. There just aren't that many there to be found and they probably didn't know what they were looking for.
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| Nice and Shady Little Naches River |
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| A Pleasant Surprise - Serpentinite or Jadeite! |
After scouring the river for good rocks, and having found only a few possibles, we decided to head back to the cooler side of the Cascades. One of my best finds was a nice large serpentinite or jadeite! I keep finding these in just about every WA river. Go figure.
Meanwhile, be sure to check out our beautiful mineral specimens on our Etsy shop!
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