Columbine Gem and Mineral Society Columbine Gem and Mineral Society is Chaffee County, Colorado's own rockhunting, fossil, artifact, lapidary and earth science club.
Meetings are held the second Thursday of every month in the Meeting Room of the Mount Shavano Manor at 525 West 16th (at J street) in Salida, Colorado and start at 6:30 PM.

Meetings include programs, door prizes and refreshments.
Guests and visitors are welcome.

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For notices of
Columbine Gem and
Mineral Society's
events, join our Mailing List
(You must be a
society member to join.)
schedule graphic

Please note that while our meetings are open to the general public, field trips are
limited to Columbine members, plus members of our sister club in Oklahoma and the Pueblo and Canon City clubs with which we maintain reciprocal agreements. Often, field trip destinations are small, remote areas which limit the number of participants.

Interested members must sign up one month before the trip.

To sign up for a field trip you must be a Columbine Society member and sign up on the field trip list at a meeting or preferably go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColumbineEvents/cal///group/ColumbineEvents 
and pick the field trip you want to attend -  click it and follow the instructions.

 Note: To fully utilize the yahoo groups site you must sign up as a ColumbineEvents member by completing the yahoo groups member profile (please list your real name). Your name will checked against the Columbine Society membership roster and you will be approved for the ColumbineEvents group if you are a Society member.

If you do sign up for a trip and can't go - please be considerate and cancel your
reservation.
If you wish to join, please use our Membership Application Form

WHAT TO WEAR Recommendations for all outings: 

1. DO NOT WEAR SHORTS OR SANDALS!
2. Wear Long Sleeve Shirt and Long Pants!
3. Bring lots of Water and a Lunch!
4. Wear a Hat, gloves and Sun Glasses!
5. Bring any medications you  may need!
6. Wear Hiking Boots or as a last resort Gym Shoes!
7. Bring any and all equipment you may need (shovel etc.)!

If you wish to see last year's field trip schedule, click here.

Feb 14 Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Colling
Speaker: Cindy Peratt
Subject: Cab Cutting & Polishing
Show & Tell: Amethyst
March 13 Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Curtis
Program: Making cabachons by Cindy Peratt
Show & Tell: Quartz
April 10- Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Cindy & Dirk Peratt
Program: Gemstones of America DVD 
Show & Tell: Garnet
April 19 Field Trip - Baculite Mesa with Pueblo Rockhounds 

What: Cretaceous Fossils-ammonites, baculites and clams.
@ ~5,000ft, Moderate (muddy when wet; 2x2 vehicle ok)
Where: Baculite Mesa area
Leader: Pueblo Club – Larry Frank / Einar Wolfsberg
May 8- Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Gay & Ensley
Program: The Geology of the Franklin/Ogdenburg Zinc Mines by Bob Carnein
Show & Tell: Blue Rocks
May 17- Field Trip - New Hope Amethyst Claim with Canon City Club

What: Amethyst, barite
Moderate (4x4 vehicle +/-)  PLEASE PLAN TO CARPOOL
Where: Canon City area
Leader: Jim Meacham
May 24- Field Trip - Lake George / Joe Dorris Claims & Pinnacle 5 with Pueblo Rockhounds

What: View Operations of an Active Claim (Smokey Quarts, Amazonite, Fluorite & Goethite
Moderate (2x2 vehicle or 4x4)
Where: Lake George Area
Leader: Einar Wulfsberg
June 12- Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Schnaderbeck
Program: Gemstones of Mt. Antero by Mark Krivanek
Show & Tell: Aquamarine
June 14- Field Trip - LaVeta Pass Fossils and KT Layer with Pueblo Rockhounds
What: Brachiopod Fossils, Geology of the area and view the KT Layer (When the mass extinction of dinosaurs occured) 
Moderate all day trip (2x2 vehicle)
Where: LaVeta Pass & Trinidata area.
Leader: Larry Frank
June 21-22 Pike's Peak Gem and Mineral Show -

What: Gem and Mineral Show
Where: Phil Long Expo Center 1515 Auto Mall Loop Colorado Springs, Colorado
Time: 10am to 6pm
June 22 Field Trip - Saguache Agate

What: Agate, Chalcedony, Geodes - surface collecting
Moderate (4x4 vehicle)
Where: Saguache area
Leader: Lori Denoyer
July 10- Meeting/Annual Society Picnic and Silent Auction -

What: bring, table service for your party,  a covered dish to share and your own meat to grill - drinks are provided, and please also bring donations for the silent auction
Where: Centennial Park, Salida (at the shelter on the west side of Salida Hot Springs Pool)
Time: 6:00 PM
July 20 Field Trip - Mt. Antero

What: Aquamarine, Quartz, Fluorite
Extremely Difficult 12,000  to 13,500' elevation (4x4 with high clearance vehicle only)
Where: Mt. Antero / Mt. White
Notice: This is an all day trip Ralph will not leave the top of the Mountain until 5:30pm. 
If you choose to leave the mountain earlier you must notify Ralph.   
Leader: Ralph Eiler
July 26 Field Trip - Ute Trail to Cotopaxi with Pueblo Rockhounds

What: Epidot, Quartz, Peridot and Jasper
Moderate 2x2 with high clearance vehicle (make sure your gas tank is full - bring lots of water)
4x4 recommended
Where: Ute Trail (Calumet mine and Peridot Locations) to Cotopaxi (All Day Marathon)
Leader: Einar Wulfsberg
August 1-3 Chaffee County Fair 

Where: Chaffee County Fairgrounds in Poncha Springs.
Leader: Fred Jackson 539.3930 - volunteers needed for booth set up and take down,
and for the "decorate a rock" contest
Aug 7-10 Contin-Tail Rock and Gem Show

What: open air rock swap and show featuring local and regional dealers
Where: Buena Vista Rodeo Grounds
Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Aug 9-10 Buena Vista Gold Rush Days

What: Wild West festival
Easy
Where: Buena Vista downtown business district
Aug 10 Field Trip - Ruby Mountain with Pueblo Rockhounds

What: Spesartine Garnets, Apache Tears, rare Topaz
Moderate (2x2 vehicle)
Where: Between Salida & Buena Vista
Leader: Einar Wulfsberg
Aug 14 Regular Monthly Meeting
Where: Stock yards bridge south of Salida
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Kier
Program: Evening field trip walking along railroad tracks south of Salida - lots of great geology and history
Show & Tell: Green Rocks 
Aug 24 Field Trip - Mt. Antero

What: Aquamarine, Quartz, Fluoritegate
Extremely Difficult 12,000  to 13,500' elevation (4x4 with high clearance vehicle only)
Where: Mt. Antero / Mt. White
Notice: This is an all day trip Ralph will not leave the top of the Mountain until 5:30pm. 
If you choose to leave the mountain earlier you must notify Ralph    
Leader: Ralph Eiler
Sept 7 Field Trip - Marshall Pass

What: Geodes, Chalcedony, Agates
Easy/Moderate @ ~10,000ft 2x2 or 4x4 vehicle 
Where:  Marshall Pass
Leader: Lori Denoyer
Sept 11 Regular Monthly Meeting
Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Freeman & Floyd
Program:
Show & Tell: Agate & Jasper 
Sept 12-14 The 40th Annual Denver Gem and Mineral Show

What: One of the world's best gem and mineral shows. 
Where: Denver, Colorado
For more information on this event, please visit the above link. This is far to large an event for a sentence or two to do it justice.
Time: 9am - 5pm
Sept 20 Field Trip - Lake George Dreamtime mine Quenton Good owner with Pueblo Rockhounds

What: Smokey Quartz, Amazonite, Fluorite and Goethite
Where: Lake George area
Easy/Moderate @ ~9,000ft, 2x2 or 4x4 vehicle
Leader:  Einar Wolfsberg
Oct 9 Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Wulfsberg
Program: 
Show & Tell: Petrified Wood
Oct 18 Field Trip - Shelf Road Geology with Pueblo Rockhounds
What: View sights and Geology of the Shelf  Road
Where: Between Canon City and Cripple Creek
Easy/Moderate @ ~8,000ft, 2x2 vehicle
Leader: Larry Frank
Nov 13 Regular Monthly Meeting

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Stan & Patty Love
Program: 
Show & Tell: Red Rocks
Dec ?-?- Flatirons Mineral Club Annual Gem & Mineral Show
Dec 11 Meeting/Christmas Party 

Where: Meeting Room at Shavano Manor
Time: 6:30 PM
In Charge of Refreshments: Potluck style - everyone bring a dish to share
Program: voluntary gift exchange - if interested, bring a wrapped gift with a value of ~$10-15. This gift should be related in some way to our various hobbies - a mineral specimen, an agate, a fossil, interesting rocks, artifacts, etc.
American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Member of the
American Federation
of Mineralogical Societies		 Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Member of the
Rocky Mountain Federation
of Mineralogical Societies		 Colorado Federation of Gem Mineral Societies
Member of the
Colorado Federation
of Gem & Mineral Societies
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