Sign in or 
Share this
Sept 7 Lucas Creek Splash and Dash
E:| OUR TREASURE | HOW & WHERE WE FOUND IT |
| Description of the find:Agates, Jasper, Petrified Wood The story behind the trip: This trip was a group that met on this wiki and decided to go have fun together. We met we splashed a lot of water we had alot of fun. Everyone found a good amount of Agates and some Jasper and pet wood. | Tools we used: Hand Rakes, buckets, screens Resources: Wiki threads and profile messages to set up date and time and meeting place. |
MORE PHOTOS
| Andy's Amazing Report of the Adventure |
| September 7th began early as I awoke with the excitement and anticipation of going to a place I had never been before and finding treasures of nature which I had been assured of, would surely be waiting to be found. This goldengate destination was the North fork of Lucas Creek. I had all ready pre-packed my camera,5 gal. bucket, 4 prong short handle garden rake,sunglasses, water, snacks & cooler and an extra set of clothes and shoes and was ready to travel to the other side of the mountains. My travelling companion and fellow rockhound was Ms. Willie from Yakima,Wa. We were on the road by 6:30 am heading West on Hwy 12 over White Pass through the Cascade Mountains.There is no better early morning experience than travelling over this scenic highway on a gorgeous bluebird day with a sunrise that would cause one to stop and pause just to soak up and absorb the colors which were beginning to be revealed as the sun began to shine it's light on the mountain tops and to take a deep breath of crisp clean fresh mountain air. We reached the summit of White Pass around 7:50am and began our decent down the mountain passing through the sleepy community of Packwood which this day was hosting some kind of cycling event. This we surmised as we passed groups of bicyclist bicycling west to somewhere.We made a quick pit stop at the only major rest area along the way to rid ourselves of the pot of coffee we had drank earlier. Once done we proceeded on to Marys Corner, named after Mary Rogers a gal who ran a store there in the early 20's and which is located approx. 10 miles SW of Chehalis,Wa. It was here that we took a right turn travelling North on the Jackson Hwy for roughly 4 miles to a little country store where we would hook up with the rest of the agateer's.We arrived at approx 9:20am and found that Jake,Dan & trusty Chesapeake rock-hound were already there and primed to go. Tom & family arrived shortly thereafter. After a short exchange of handshakes and introductions our party of 9 embarked up the road on the the N.fork of Lucas Creek with Tom assuming the roll of leader and pathfinder. In no time at all it seemed,we arrived at the appointed location around 9:50am. We all parked our rigs essentially in the only area that provided off-road/shoulder parking available in that stretch.. In no time at all everyone had gathered their equipment and set out single file through a line of brush and thicket towards the creek. As I recall Tom led the way followed by his brother John, nephew Cody, his daughter and granddaughter riding the shoulders of mom, Willie, myself,Jake and Dan & co bring up the rear.We were spread out 10-15 feet apart and as we drew closer to the creek I could hear commotion and words of excitement up ahead of us and wondered if someone had already found the 1ST ONE. As we came to the bank of the creek where Toms daughter was standing and which was several feet above the creek bed we noticed Cody walking out of the creek towards where Tom & John were standing on a small gravel bar.Cody had broken the ice by slipping in the creek and getting wet. I should mention at this point that no one was expecting the creek to have as much water in it as it did and as we would later learn, those pesky beavers had been up to their handy work downstream.Once at the creek bank it was necessary to make a little jump of several feet to the other side onto this little spit of a gravel bar where Tom, John and now wet Cody were waiting for everyone else. Tom's daughter handed off the child to John who had waded out to get her and then pass her off to grandpa before exiting the creek. With some apprehension it was now time for her to make a short leap of faith to reach the other side and with some instruction and encouragement from her father and John she jumped. HOWEVER....she lost her footing upon landing and stepped backwards.falling full monte into the creek on her fanny pak. I must confess that having just witnessed this splash down I began chuckling and laughing internally at her misfortune as well as my impending premonition about Ms.Willies agility ability and never doubting for one moment that I would have any difficulty making the crossing.......WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, as Tom's daughter exited the creek it was now time for willie to make a short jump but I could tell she had some reservations about this maneuver so I offered to steady her by holding her left hand as she positioned herself on the bank for the short jump. When she turned around and took ahold of my hand/wrist she slipped on the slippery bank, lost her balance and footing and as you may have guessed by now fell backwards into the creek and yep..... as you probably know her momentum and grip took me in and I followed her face first, undoubtedly performing the first ever Lucas Creek belly flop.......HE He HE. It was a double splash down worthy of an Olympic gold medal. Unfortunately no cameras were positioned or rolling to capture the moment. Next in line for the creek crossing was Jake who having just seen rockhounds transformed into water dogs at the Lucas Cr. Fallies opted to change into his shorts which he later regretted as he had an encounter with those naughty nettles. Next was Dan who with his trusty Chesapeake rock-hound made the crossing without incident. Needless to say that with the majority of the group already wet the need and necessity of staying dry evaporated from our thoughts and we proceeded upstream over the hills and through the woods and some logs to a place we mud slid back into the creek to a good size gravel bar where there was ample sunlight and where everyone began finding agates. As the morning grew old the group strung out moving upstream to larger gravel bars where there was even more sunlight & more AGATES of all sizes,shapes & colors.As 2:30 crept up on everyone there were comments about the time and calling it a day as the days trek to and up the creek,the digging,raking and bucket sluicing were now being felt in the bodies and backs of those present with the exception of those mountainside agate marathoner's..........you know who you are :) Shortly thereafter the troops re-assembled and withdrew, single file back down the creek a short ways & up a more user friendly creek bank and then back to the road several hundred yards away through a user friendly field offering an obstacle free retreat. All of us returned safely to our rigs where we had a time out to gather our thoughts and change into some dry clothes. After a few photo op's and some show and tell conversation all bid each other farewell with a promise to do it all over again........................YEA HAW Would I do it again>>>>>>>>ABSOLUTELY - if I lived over in that vicinity I'd probably be N the creek every other day it's that good, This was a 5 star ***** adventure. |
syonix |
Latest page update: made by syonix
, Jan 3 2009, 2:04 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Moved from: Treasure Hunting Wiki
- syonix
No content added or deleted. - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
treasure hunt
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
