GMS Field Trip

GMS Field Trip
Quartzite, Jasper, and Slate in Georgia
Saturday, July 8, 2017

The June field trip was deferred to July because of the threat of severe weather coupled with abundant caution. This time the weather was fine and the trip proceeded as planned. Once again,GMS members Casey and Terri graciously invited GMS to their beautiful property. Juniors and adults had a great time splashing around and collecting rocks in the cool mountain creek. Everyone found pretty quartzite, stripey slate, plus some mica schist with pyroxene and garnet. We were fortunate to have Bill Waggener on hand to identify all of the goodies.

Casey set up a tent, hauled big containers of water, plus a couple of years ago, he and George Sanders pulled a sturdy electric cord several hundred feet to the creek, just so Charles could use his portable cabbing unit to face polish pieces for everyone. Bill Waggener stepped in when Charles’ attention was needed elsewhere. Cristina and Caitlyn Clines got to try cabbing for the first time, too!

Trader Joe’s grocery store donated a watermelon, cherries, and an insulated bag to keep them cool, so field trip attendees were treated with refreshing fruit plus a few impromptu cherry spitting contests. One junior challenged his grandmother to a friendly contest and spit his seed a respectable 4 or 5 feet while grandma barely cleared her chin!

Casey upgraded the privy this year so it was even more luxurious than ever. He told us to look for a particular species of crawfish found only in that area and said it is so red it looks cooked! He also displayed several examples of rocks from the creek so attendees could see what they could find. Terri offered daylily plants to anyone who wanted to take them home and made sure everyone was safe and having fun.

It was a great trip and everyone got their fill right before the skies opened up. Many thanks to the Sosebees for inviting us to their wonderful creek again! Thanks to Charles for setting up the trip and lugging around his cabbing unit as well as Cristina, Caitlyn, and Cameron Clines for helping pack everything up at the end of the day!

Lori Carter
On behalf of Charles Carter, GMS Field Trip Chair
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