In the Trenches

I am fairly new to rockhounding, and rely on published guides to help steer me towards locations with interesting rocks.  I have several :

Gem Trails of Washington by Garret Romaine

Rockhound's Guide to Washington Vol. 1 & 2, by Bob & Kay Jackson  (ca. 1970)

Both cover a lot of the same ground, but help a beginner like myself get started.

The downside is that many of the areas described in both books have been pretty well picked over by generations of rockhounds before me.  What that means in practice became clear to me this week, when I went to explore Salmon Creek near Toledo, Washington.  Known in the past for its carnelian agate and jasper, Salmon Creek may still produce new material, especially after winter storms scour the watershed.

Carnelian/Agate, Red and Green Jasper, Salmon Creek

To me, however, Salmon Creek looked like a war zone. Pocked with craters and rock piles, this was as close to industrial rockhounding as I've ever seen, with the stream diverted, and every gravel bar turned upside down. Not only did this look like a waste of my time - and it was - it was disheartening to see the creek degraded this way. I know there are State rules for digging in and around streams, and although I don't know all those rules, I'm sure most of them were broken here, certainly in spirit. If there were once salmon fry in this stream, I doubt many of them survived this onslaught.

In the end, I bushwhacked up the river a mile or so, and found a spot where, although there were still pits and piles, there was not the devastated look of the lower, more accessible, parts of the river. I found a few nice pieces of agate and lots of lovely green and red jasper. I'm sure others have found better before me, but at what cost? I did no digging, or screening.

This experience made me resolve to search out other, less-publicized locations, and maybe find a few of my own. Either way, I will do everything I can to minimize my impact on the environment around me.  I have never been a fan of open-pit or strip mining: why should it be acceptable for rockhounds?