The day was finally here, the first field trip of the year with the Owyhee Gem and Mineral Society. Our first trip was to be at Reynolds Creek in the Owyhee desert to collect Petrified Wood.

The morning started at the crack of dawn or maybe a little before as the roosters we still sleeping. I woke up at 6:00 am to prepare for the day. I left the house at 7:15 to meet up with my friend and fellow rock hound Jone at Albertsons parking lot since she was going to ride the rest of the way with me. We left Eagle at 7:30 and headed to Walters Ferry were we were to meet up with the rest of the club. After about an hour of driving down highway 45 we arrived at Walters Ferry and waited for the group to arrive. The picture above is us parked in the parking lot on the Snake River.

The weather could not have been any better as it was a clear blue sky and not even a hint of wind, with a mild 48 degrees. Could you ask for anymore enjoyable weather not in the Owyhee’s.

Well at 9:30 our field trip leader John guided myself and about 60 others to the dig location on Reynolds Creek. It was about 10 miles from Walters Ferry on a very good and maintained dirt road which most vehicles would be able to access.

By 10:00 we were out of the Jeep and ready to start looking for wood. Jone and I quickly scrambled up the hill to the back side as John said that was were all of the good stuff is found. Once we dropped down the other side I started looking around on the ground and within a minute I was finding pieces of Petrified Wood, I thought to myself this is going to be a good day. Since this was my first trip looking for wood I figured that I would set up shop by some of the more seasoned veterans. Well that idea payed off as I started finding pieces of limbs within minutes of digging. I will let you know that the digging in some of the places here is hard digging, I’m talking 18″ of sandstone that the wood is encased in. Then 20 yards away you will be digging in soft loose dirt. So you will want to bring shovels, hammers, chisels and lots of arm strength.

By 12:30 it was time for our lunch which was a pot luck and it was great, I could not have eaten any better at home. I only spent about 20 minutes eating and talking with other members about what they have found so far since I wanted to return to my hole. By 1:00 I was back and digging my way to China as there was a piece of a log filling my hole but it was encased in sandstone. I had to pick my battles and decided to move on not very far just searching through the soil an not the rock. I was finding some nice pieces of wood in this area and not as much work. For the next 2 hours I had a few helpers come around and I let them dig with me.

By 3:00 I decided to go down the hill to see what this group of about 6 people were doing as they were there for most of the day. When I arrived it was evident why they were there all day. There was a 10′ log unearthed and the most petrified wood that I have ever seen in one place. There had to be at least 400 pounds of the stuff, some people have all the luck. Well by 4:00 I decided to pack up shop and start heading back to the Jeep. I happened to find a few nice pieces of petrified wood on the ground that would turn out to be the best pieces I found the whole trip and the easiest by far to find.

We were one of the last vehicles to leave the site and it was time to go home since I was a little sunburned and tired. Jone and I arrived back in Eagle at about 5:30 and I dropped her off. When I arrived home it was time to take a shower and clean the days booty “fun fun”.

In conclusion this was a much more fun trip that I anticipated it would be. I will most definitely return in the near future. I would rate this trip a 7.5 out of 10.