Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 6, 2013 20:30:32 GMT -5
I've been planning a springtime trip across the state for Petoskey stones since last summer. Last spring I spent about an hour wading in some very cold water and found about a dozen small stones that my son had a ball polishing. I went back later in the summer to be disappointed that all the rocks were so covered in algae that I couldn't find the Petoskey stones.
I was going to wait a couple more weeks to make sure the ice was off the lake, but my in-laws called last night to say they were driving over for the day to go to a casino. My wife decided to tag along and asked if my son and I wanted to come pick rocks. I called a Petoskey business near the water (but not within sight of it) to ask if there was ice on the lake. I was told that the bay was clear of ice. The weather report was for rain, snow, a high of 39 degrees, and winds up to 25 mph, not exactly perfect weather for looking at rocks in the water. We packed waders, neoprene gloves and winter clothes.
We pulled into town to find the bay completely covered in ice. Big bummer. My favorite spot was out of the question, so we drove back to a rock shop that sells mostly Petoskey stones. The owner was the woman who polished the Petoskey stone that sits on the president's desk. She was really nice and showed us her shop and gave us some great lapidary tips. Then we headed down the shore away from the bay and toward more open water. We found a roadside park near open water and headed to the beach. We walked over some ice on the beach and hopped into the water. The waders were a great idea. We spent about an hour and a half and came out with about a four gallon bucket full of rocks. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of us wading around next to the ice on the shore. Here's our haul:
My son is in the basement testing each rock right now. He just does a little bit of each rock to see how the pattern looks. We've got a free weekend in two weeks, so we're heading back for more!
I was going to wait a couple more weeks to make sure the ice was off the lake, but my in-laws called last night to say they were driving over for the day to go to a casino. My wife decided to tag along and asked if my son and I wanted to come pick rocks. I called a Petoskey business near the water (but not within sight of it) to ask if there was ice on the lake. I was told that the bay was clear of ice. The weather report was for rain, snow, a high of 39 degrees, and winds up to 25 mph, not exactly perfect weather for looking at rocks in the water. We packed waders, neoprene gloves and winter clothes.
We pulled into town to find the bay completely covered in ice. Big bummer. My favorite spot was out of the question, so we drove back to a rock shop that sells mostly Petoskey stones. The owner was the woman who polished the Petoskey stone that sits on the president's desk. She was really nice and showed us her shop and gave us some great lapidary tips. Then we headed down the shore away from the bay and toward more open water. We found a roadside park near open water and headed to the beach. We walked over some ice on the beach and hopped into the water. The waders were a great idea. We spent about an hour and a half and came out with about a four gallon bucket full of rocks. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of us wading around next to the ice on the shore. Here's our haul:
My son is in the basement testing each rock right now. He just does a little bit of each rock to see how the pattern looks. We've got a free weekend in two weeks, so we're heading back for more!