It was a perfect morning on Saturday July 19, 2008 to go on a fieldtrip in the beautiful Uinta Mountains in Utah. A group of members of Wasatch Gem, the Beehive Club in Ogden, and other visitors gathered at the Cedar Hollow Recreation Area parking area just out of Woodland, Utah at 8:00 AM. The adventurous group left the parking area with the fieldtrip leader Reed Pendleton at about 8:45 AM. It takes about an hour or so to get to the collecting area. A variety of transportation was used to travel up the mountain roads to the horn coral beds. There were several ATV's, a jeep and a pick up truck. The roads were all dried out and passable, but still quite rocky. We had one ATV quit on the way up and one ATV with a flat tire, but they were soon repaired and on their way again.
After reaching the horn coral beds the anxious rockhounds all spread out and start digging for the coral. Some members walked around and picked coral up off of the surface that had weathered out over the winter. Others tried their luck at screening for the coral specimens. No matter what method was used, everyone was successful in finding beautiful coral specimens. It was well worth the effort. Everyone seemed very happy with their finds.
There were 17 rockhounds in attendance. They were Reed Pendleton, DeWayne and Debbie Pendleton, Dave and Claudia Pack, Kay Bowthorpe, Pam Brimley, Murray Becker, Steve Hohnke, Henry Wythe, Jim Furrow, Bob Booth, Dave Offret, Steve Smith, Tim and Jeanne Arnett and their friend Richard Alary. The Arnett's came over from Colorado and Dave Offret and Steve Smith were from the Beehive Club.
We look forward to having more members join us on future fieldtrips. If you have a favorite collecting sight that you would be willing to lead a fieldtrip to please contact Reed Pendleton at 943-1682. He would be more than happy to help you organize and plan the fieldtrip. Fieldtrips are such a fun activity and a good way to get to know other members better, besides being able to collect some awesome new materials and specimens for your collection. Get involved and join in on the fun of planning and going on a fieldtrip with the club.
