In early September, I was invited to join a friend, Chris H., who owns a stake in the Spruce Claim in the Snoqualmie Pass area, north or NorthBend, Washington. Chris was our field trip leader at the Maplewood Rock and Gem Club a few years back. The Spruce Claim was part of 170 claims filed by Bear Creek Mining back in the 1950’s. It was worked for specimens in 1977 and 1978 by What on Earth, Inc. (Ohio - Sandy Ludlum), then Bob Jackson, Stan Esbenshade, and Niel Pfaff from 1979-1982, Geology Adventures from 1983 to 2008, and now Spruce Claim Collectors, LLC (source mindat.org). Despite its long history of operation, there is still much much more material remaining. It is known for its museum quality quartz and pyrite clusters. The pyrite, also known "Fool's gold", here is more octahedron than cube shaped, although the shapes unearthed have varied throughout the claims history.
Chris and I set out from his house at 6 in the morning. We headed north to North Bend, Washington, then headed up some rough back forest roads, including a the last leg behind a locked forest service road access gate. Once at the trail head, we switched into our hiking gear and loaded our packs.
Not more than 30 feet from the trail head, our path took a steep climb up. Luckily there were ropes to help. The trail was a quarter mile up, mostly at a 70% incline. There were a few switchbacks and lots of ropes to help us ascend. As we neared the mine, there were plenty of warning signs to keep non claim staff and owners off the site, as it is an active mine site with daily dynamiting in the summer. Claim caretakers occasionally evict hikers hoping to “jump” the claim. Some folks just don’t respect property rights and warning signs.
Towards the top, there are a handful of lodging, storage, and outhouse buildings. It was a hot day and after a demanding climb up, the cold water there was very welcome. Once our rest and water break was over, we hiked a short distance up to the actual mine site. It was in a steep narrow ravine. We dropped our packs on a small ledge/trail, then skirted around the cliff and down a series of steps and ropes to the mine.
It is a steep sheer wall with a series of “benches” at the bottom, then a steep ravine down that contains the mine tailings basically just a bunch of boulders and other rocks going almost all the way 1/4 mile down to the edge of the service road. The entire area is secured with a series of ropes for us to attach to, as the narrow ledges and steep drop offs require proper climbing gear in order to safely work the site.
The “benches” are where the material is uncovered. This involves a process of the miners drilling a series of hole and then packing them with explosives. The goal is to knock off a few feet of each branch to expose a new face, while still maintaining benches to work on to search the vugs, holes and crevices in the rock, for crystals. When the explosives were ready, we all retreated to the upper trail around a corner. The miners sounded a loud airhorn to warn that blasted would occur in a few minutes. They then tested the wires for proper conductivity in the circuit, followed by connecting them to the detonator box. They allowed me the honors. They sounded the airhorn again to warn that blasting was about to occur. I held the left button down which triggered a green blinking light. When the green light transitioned from blinking to solid, I yelled, “Fire in the hole,” then pushed the right button.
”KA BOOOM”
The earth shook and smaller rocks flew out in front of us as we were protected by the massive rock wall we hid behind. Because of the danger of flying rocks, we had to hide to protect ourselves and were not able to see the actual explosion. The miners then went around the cliff and down to inspect the blast area to ensure that there were not any unexploded explosives. There was one, so they ”remediated” it to ensure that it was safe before allowing us to go down to the collection site.
We then went down, secured by a series of ropes, and served the results. The 4 of us inspected the newly exposed rocks. We ensured that the newly loosened boulders were safe to work around, pushing some down the hill and out of our way. One bounced down the gulley for nearly 20 seconds as it bounced down with a series of loud thumps.
Once cleared, we inspected the newly exposed vugs to see which ones were promising. Some contained pristine quartz crystals, while most were covered inlayers or oxides iron. There were also lots of pyrite. However, most of the pyrite was broken and fractured. There were many large pieces, but most did not survive the shock of the explosions. Many of the vugs contained mud which required us to poke around with chop stickers to try to remove the loose materials. For those that contained worthy clusters of quartz crystals and pyrite, we used thin wedge chisels to try to separate the crystal clusters with enough base material to keep things stable. This was hard work with lots of hammering oil the bedrock. In most cases it was well worth this grueling effort, but in some, the clusters din’t fully survive the process. I found several great scepter pieces and some nice pyrite crystals in an octahedron shape, although all of the intact ones were very small.
When we were in doubt about a particular bug or specific, we reached out to he 2 miners to help provide some guidance and insight. They had been doing this for years, so they helped show us how to remove some of the rock overburden or release a particular cluster.
The temperature that day reached the 90’s With full rugged clothes, climbing gear, and helmets, it was important to take breaks in the shade and to drink plenty of water. During the breaks, we were treated to some spectacular views.
As we collected the more delicate quartz/pyrite crystal cluster specimens, we packed them in the bubble wrap and clam-shell to-go containers that we brought. For the loose quartz crystals and pyrite crystals, we packed those in various sizes of zip lock bags. It was important to pack well, as we still had the rugged 1/4 mile trek down the mountain to the trailhead.
Just before sunset, we decided to end our day and make the trek down. We thanked the miners for their help, loaded our packs, and started the journey down. When nearly to the bottom, we passed a tree that had warning signs about hornets. Chris went by silently and avoided them. As I passed, I was not so lucky. Two stung me on the left hip and one on the right shoulder. Not as bad as I expected, but very annoying for the next day or so. We passed several others who were venturing up to camp, in preparation for the next day’s mining opportunity. When we reached the bottom of our trek to the trailhead, we drank lots of water and started our cooldown. It was now dark. We changed from our dust and sweat soaked mining clothes into some clean clothes we brought for the trip home.
Our final leg of the journey was to navigate the backcountry forest service road with its ups and downs, twists and turns, through the dark night back to the surface roads near North Bend, Washington. It was a bumpy and jolting drive in parts, thus the extra protection of bubble wrap for our specimens. When we finally hit the paved road it was a welcome relief and felt like we hit civilization. The hour back home flew by as we discussed our day’s adventure.
Once home and rested, the process of cleaning gear, clothes, and my specimens began. I unpacked and sorted the materials. For the quartz, I placed them in a batch of prepared oxalic acid solution where they will rest for several months. This will clean off the coating iron deposits and other materials that coats them. I want to thank Chris H. for an awesome adventure. It is our shared love of rocks and minerals that allowed us to come together to enjoy some of the bounty that Washington state has to over. Chris’ generosity is recognized and appreciated.
Quarts Cluster Specimen before Cleaning
Quarts Cluster Specimen After Cleaning
