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Post by Toad on Apr 15, 2015 16:08:36 GMT -5
My son and I will be heading up to Michigan for some rockhounding May 20th through the 23rd. Rough outline of the trip:
- Leave Cleveland and head to Petoskey for some coral - Then head north across the bridge to the UP and Lake Superior for some agates and Unakite - Head to Marquette for a night's sleep - Hit some beaches on Marquette's east side for more agates - Then down to Ishpeming to see Jasper knob and look for abandoned mines, then on to some beaches on the UP's west coast - Spend the night in Houghton - Move further into the Keweenaw Peninsula, hugging the northern shore for more beaches - All the way into Copper Harbor and see what's in the area there - Spend the night in Copper Harbor - Head back southwest, staying more inland and look for old mines - Back across the bridge to mainland MI and if we're still feeling froggy head to the SW to look for septarian nodules
Anyone have any favorite collecting spots they can point out for me?
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 15, 2015 16:55:57 GMT -5
Sounds like your atinery is full....................Good luck.................
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Post by Toad on Apr 15, 2015 17:34:07 GMT -5
Actually had several spots picked out per Rob's suggestions - just wanted to see if there were any other spots I might want to try...
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 16, 2015 13:03:26 GMT -5
My favorite Petoskey stone beach is behind Glen's Market in Petoskey. I've found some great rocks there, but last year we didn't do as well. You can drive all up and down the coast and try other beaches too. The little town of Norwood has Petoskey stones and lots of banded chert. I just posted some pictures of some chert from there the other day. They are the last three rocks in that post, not the first three. Where are you going for unakite? I do the best around the Grand Marais area and East, but that's a long way from Marquette. There's a little beach near Au Train (west of Munising) that sometimes has unakite but sometimes it's better than others. It's right on your way, so it would be a shame not to stop. I haven't done much beach hunting around Marquette. The only place I've really been is Presque Isle park. That's a beautiful park, especially at the black rocks, but I don't find many rocks worth bringing home. The striped rocks at the Black Rocks are soft and don't polish. There's a mine that's past Marquette that has lots of specular hematite if you're interested in that. I'll have to look up the name and give you directions if you're interested. The hematite is really messy. It leaves silver sparkles everywhere. There are other minerals there, but I'm not good at identifying them and we didn't spend too long there. It's right on the way to Houghton so it doesn't take long to stop if you can find it. It took me a while to find it with the directions I was given. About halfway between Marquette and Houghton, there's a roadside park called Canyon Falls. It's on the left heading toward Houghton. If you have an hour to spare, it's a really beautiful river in a canyon with water falls. When the sign says that the trail ends, keep going for the best stuff. There are two spots where people jump into the river in the summer. The second one must be about a fifty foot jump. My son had a ball. I'll see if I can get some of his Go Pro videos from him to post here later. I can't believe my wife agreed to let him jump. The Seaman Mineral Museum in Houghton is awesome. Plan at least two hours if you go there. On your way up the Keweenaw Peninsula, you might want to check out the mouth of the Gratiot River. We found a couple agates there (small and not that great) and I think I found U.P. Thomsonite (actually prehnite) on that beach. I also found a rock that was about half copper. Other places to see in the Keweenaw are The Jam Pot, a small bakery run by monks, Brockway Mountain Drive for some great views, and there are at least two mines that give tours. One will sell you a pile of tailings to go through, but there are plenty of mines you can explore for free. I don't know which mines to suggest because we never really found anything of much value at any of them. There are some interesting rocks in the tailings, but I brought way too much home. I don't think the banded chert from up near Copper Harbor is actually chert. That never did seem right to me, but the guy who told me it was chert seems very knowledgable. I brought a piece to Karen Brzys of the Grand Marais rock shop/museum and she told me it was jasper. I really don't know what the difference is between jasper and chert is, so I don't know. Whatever it is, I like it a lot. I have some in the tumbler now. I think you could spend a whole summer in the U.P and still not see everything. You're probably going to be frustrated with such a short trip. Have you checked on the ice conditions up there? We went to Marquette a couple weeks ago and there were piles of ice on the beaches about ten feet deep. Lake Huron and the beaches around here seem completely melted now.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Apr 16, 2015 13:25:51 GMT -5
Rob will put you on it. Good on you.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 16, 2015 14:45:39 GMT -5
I just reread your post. There will not be an ice problem in May. I was thinking that it said April. The bugs can be horrific in the summer. I'm not sure what late May is like. Last summer I went up to the Keweenaw and almost got eaten alive by the stable flies on the beach. My family loves me enough to stay an hour on the beach, but none of it was fun, even for me. I've read that they can be bad on any hot, humid day all summer long. There is no repellent that works. I was going back for a three day camping trip with my son just for rock hunting, so I bought a full body mosquito net suit. I ended up not using it, but it was comforting just to have it along. My son didn't want one, but his plan was to wear cheap Walmart wind pants and a long sleeve shirt. I would suggest bringing something along just in case. I'd guess that in May, you're less likely to have a hot, humid day.
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Post by Toad on Apr 16, 2015 15:16:30 GMT -5
I was hoping to get in and out after the ice, but before the black flies - late May was the best I could do. I'll bring some DEET just in case.
I was planning a stop in Charlevoix and Petoskey for the Petoskey stones - I'll add Glen's to the list.
For Unakite I was planning to hit Agate Beach in Grand Marais. You had said before that Au Train was hit or miss, so I was planning to skip it.
Thanks again for the pointers.
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Apr 16, 2015 16:44:21 GMT -5
Jugglerguy Rob said > When the sign says that the trail ends, keep going for the best stuff. Amen. I don't quite agree with what my son espouses for outdoor sports "it's only fun if I think I might die" or his other version "its most fun when you're pushing on the edge and fearing for your life ". Several surgeries later (for both of us), we are both a bit more mellow.
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Post by Toad on Apr 16, 2015 17:18:20 GMT -5
This is only my second rock hounding trip and I'm 46 years old. I've always been mellow.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 16, 2015 20:10:14 GMT -5
The day you plan to go from Petoskey to Grand Marais and then to Marquette is going to be a long day. I've done basically the same thing, except from Alpena. I think I'd go to Seney and then North on 77 from there to Grand Marais. I haven't done much hunting right in Grand Marais. I'm not sure where Agate Beach is that you're referring to. I like going east from Grand Marais on a really rough gravel road. It tends to be very wash boardy, so it's slow going. There's a small rustic campground on that road with a small parking lot on the east end. That beach has tons of unakite and an occasional agate. I'd set your expectations for agates very low. We spent three days up there and didn't find anything really great. There are more beaches east from there, but you won't have time for them. You can also come to Grand Marais from the east instead of the south, but the roads are really rough. They're good roads, just bumpy and dusty. The other option in the Grand Marais area is to the west, toward Munising. There's a new looking (I'm not sure how old it is) roadside park there. The beach is great, but I'm not sure what the laws are about collecting there. There is a lot of traffic, but since it's a little more built up, I always wonder if the DNR is more strict about collecting there. I always just fill my pockets, but leave the buckets in the car. I'd ask Karen at the agate shop/museum what the rules are. She would be able to tell you for sure. There's a new road going from Grand Marais to Munising that doesn't even seem to be on Google Maps yet. It's paved, but very curvy, so you can't go too fast. There are no water views after that newish roadside park, it's just a nice drive through the woods. Make sure you have gas, because there's nothing on that road, except trees. You should definitely stop at the beach near Au Train. It's not out of the way, and it'a only about 45 minutes from Marquette, so it's a nice little rest stop. It's really pretty. Here are some 360 panoramic photos. They're really cool on an iPad, because you can just turn around with the iPad see all around. You can also move around with your mouse on a computer. Au Train BeachHorseshoe Harbor - Not very good rocks here, but it sure is pretty. This is right near Copper Harbor, but it's a bit of a trip. There's a drive down a road not much better than a two track and then a walk to the beach. View from the Top of Brockway Mountain DriveTop of Jasper Knob
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 16, 2015 20:23:10 GMT -5
Canyon Falls is awesome. Don't mistake this for the falls. That's me! (I'm in the blue.) One of the jumping spots. The lower jump. This is the big one. Scary. I didn't do it, but my son says the climb up is much scarier than the jump down. Notice that he has to jump over a ledge near the top.
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Post by Toad on Apr 18, 2015 1:45:22 GMT -5
You're right, that first day is going to be killer. Plan on leaving home about 3am and probably won't pull into Marquette before 8pm. Day 2 will be better, and day 3 will be a breeze depending on what we find to do around Copper Harbor. Day 4 will be another long one, but then we'll have Sunday and Memorial day to relax and go through the rocks we found.
Depending on how time is going, we'll put Au Train back on the itinerary. The pic you posted shows rock. The ones on the internet show sand - that's why I was going to skip.
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Post by snowmom on Apr 18, 2015 5:19:22 GMT -5
toad- happy trails. Don't forget we want to see lots of pictures and get a full report when you are safely home and rested. Sounds like a great adventure!
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Post by DirtCleaner on Apr 19, 2015 20:04:32 GMT -5
www.quincymine.comA Across the bridge from Houghton is the Quincy Mine. The tour is super. Check out the link. Also, from Houghton to Copper Harbor are many abandoned copper mines. Some are accessible while others are not. Check out the Mindat site and search for Houghton. Plenty of other ways to search there as well but Houghton will show you many of the area mines with some current and some historic photos. www.mindat.org/search.php?search=houghtonOr you can also search RTH and see what others have found. Love the beaches but would hate to miss the old mines if I was driving through there. Have fun and post pics!
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Post by Toad on Apr 21, 2015 5:02:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the links - especially the mindat
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Post by Toad on May 5, 2015 15:33:21 GMT -5
Here are the tools we're bringing for digging, raking, wetting, smashing, and prying: And here are the buckets for loot. Four 2 gallon buckets for walking around with, and eight 5 gallon buckets for hauling home all the Lakers we're going to find And snacks for when there is not a pizza nearby. Do you think 6 pounds of peanuts is enough? A close up of the granola bars (sorry about the orientation, photobucket wasn't cooperating): Also bringing some flat rate boxes and newspaper on the off chance we run across any specimens. Think we're excited!
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 5, 2015 17:07:09 GMT -5
Holy crap! That's a lot of tools and buckets! The mine tailings are mostly pretty small chunks if I remember correctly. I don't think you'll need that much crushing power. But I guess it won't take up that much room and it's better to be prepared. Did you remember safety glasses to go with the hammers? Also don't forget polarized sunglasses for looking in the water.
Are you going to bring back some black sand to search for gold in?
I'm really looking forward to doing a similar trip or two this summer. You're going to have a great time. Take lots of pictures to share your trip with us.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 5, 2015 18:03:32 GMT -5
Have a great trip. I took about that many tools to flint ridge and I think I really only used the pick and sledge hammer. I am always over prepared too. beats being under prepared.
Chuck
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on May 5, 2015 18:12:06 GMT -5
I just realized that if you fill all those buckets you will have more Michigan rocks then me and I go the U.P. all the time. LOL
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Post by orrum on May 5, 2015 18:46:11 GMT -5
I took a bunch of tools to Flint Ridge. Didn't need any, two flint knappers were running a backhoe and threw all the Gem Cabachon material up on the bank for me to fill my buckets. Don't gotta be good at it if you are lucky!#!
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