The lake water is so clean. There is no slime or bubbly foam, as you can see. I live on Lke Superior in N. Wisc year around. Crisp & clean environment. A joy to live here. The Porcupine Mts of Michigan can be seen from here. Agate hunting is a great summer activity.
I'm glad you liked that part. I don't know how helpful it was, but those are some of the rocks that grab my attention that are not agates. It's still good to take a look at them though.
That's a beach to go to a lot and it's good because it doesn't see a lot of people. That many agates in that amount of time is amazing. Each set of large waves will load it back up again and move the rocks that are there around so you can find new ones. Beautiful agates. Sam, you definitely have an eye for it. I don't think that's a paint and might even be a jelly. It's a killer, either way. In the remote area of Superior where I fish, we would often stop at remote beaches and anchor with a 2-point method, so you don't get stranded on the beach by waves. Go over areas with large rocks carefully, because this is obviously a beach that hasn't been picked that often. The size of agate you find is usually the size of the gravel in that area. What a great day to share with your son. I was excited watching the video from bed. Thank you!
One reason to really go over areas on a beach where you are finding more agates is usually because there are offshore reefs, or areas on the bottom offshore in that area where larger agates exist. Smaller agates break off those big ones and are washed up on shore, which is why some areas of a beach always seem to produce - there are larger agates offshore in that area.
We did really well on this beach, but we did see footprints the whole way. I don't think there were many people on the beach, but it's harder to tell in rocks than in sand. Sam finds more agate than I do for a few reasons. First, he's just good at it. He also has much better eyes than I do. But the other reason is that he tends to look in smaller rocks where there are more agates. I try to look in a little larger rocks hoping to find that big one. I think both ways have their merit, depending on what size agates make you happy. By the way, Sam is my neighbor, not my son. We had a couple people that we ran into make the same mistake.
@@MichiganRocks Nice of you to take Sam picking. He has picked up a lot of knowledge fast and he has many years ahead of him. I've picked for over 45 years, but I was in college before I started. Back then picking agates wasn't as popular, so we often had long stretches of beach to ourselves and it was much easier to get permission to pick in quarries and other private property. Most land owners had no idea what an agate was and they thought I was nuts to just want to pick rocks. After a blow, good beaches were loaded at the water line. Larger agates were much more common because they rarely were cherry picked and most people didn't pick in quarries and big washes. I used to have good eyes, but age has a way of changing that. I picked up a couple of foam gardening cushions and I would kneel, eventually sit, on one why I moved the other one and transfer to the other cushion when it was time to move. I was right on the ground and it allowed me to work an area thoroughly before moving ahead. That works regardless of where you are picking. But, young eyes definitely have an advantage. We go from eagle eye to buzzard eye. Lol
@@thinkcivil1627 My eyes have degraded a lot in the last five years. I never wore glasses, but I'm lost without reading glasses now. I carry a loupe with me, but often just hand a rock to Sam and ask him to check for bands. It's nice to have him along even if he does out pick me.
@@MichiganRocks Some of the nicest agates I've found didn't have bands showing and quite a few simply had rough husk all the way around. You are looking for variables when picking agates, but don't get caught up in having to see bands on the outside for you to identify them. Quite often, I had to remove some of the husk on the lap to get to the bands under it. The thorough way in which you tumble would accomplish that for a lot of smaller agates and you have all the necessary equipment to work on the larger agates with no bands showing. That is a fun video to watch and having Sam along adds to the enthusiasm.
Even though we didn't see another person, there were tracks in the rocks, so someone had already looked that beach over since the last big storm. I think we still did well though.
I just like it empty when I'm on a beach or at least not many there. And yes you both found some beautiful rocks and agates. Not so sure I would dare take my truck down that trail though.
@@MichiganRocks you’d have to make several trips with the 4-wheeler to where you HAD to park the Jeep! I’ve HAD to do that with carrying rocks out to the car...🤷🏻♀️ Sometimes my bucket gets too heavy!😆
A+ video. EUP agates seem to be very popular on online agate sales. They have their own “look” which from what I’ve seen is a more water washed appearance. Beautiful location, thanks making this video.
I am not active in the buying and selling of agates, so I'm not really up on the differences. It seems like agates from this area are not quite as red as some from Minnesota and Wisconsin. I found a really nice yellow one the next day, but that will be on a future video.
Yet another place we visited this past week. More rocks than you imagine here! Spent a lot of time driving but all was worth it! Keep up the great Michigan videos!
We took 414 to 423 right to the state park area and hiked the shoreline out. I drive a 3/4 ton heavy duty truck that does not do well in the dune sand roads we found out!
I know that beach well. Been a few years since visiting but the road was awful back then as well. However, that's why it's a great place for rocks; the average car/suv will not make it back there. Even a 4x4 with the wrong tires will have issues but thankfully, the Rubicons come equipped! So, your rock at 1:20: either a banded sandstone or banded limestone with two different grain sizes. Otherwise, the beach looks the same with plenty of granite/gneiss and agates. I wonder how that beach would be for glowy rocks??
I wasn't about to tackle that road at night just in case I got stuck. I bought a really nice air compressor for a trip we made to Colorado so that I could air down my tires. I really wish I had had it with me for this trip.
c for me liken rocks for the colors textures uniqueness I have so many potatoes lookn ones even the ones with dark spots but mines r bigger I wish I can upload pics and grays and small shiny blacks geeze I wna know what r the ones I have r called
So many cool finds! I went to Michigan once in the winter and saw Lake Michigan for just a little while. It was beautiful and I even picked up a few rocks. I would love to go back.
I really enjoyed this video. You were both so happy. I think you probably found so many agates because you were out in the middle of nowhere on mostly unpicked grounds. Agates also look very different in the different areas of the country. Out where I am, on the West Coast, we have a lot of almost clear agates and the bands can be very obvious. Carnelian is also more common. You guys had some great luck.
I try to get to as remote of places as possible. We still saw footprints everywhere we went that day, so it wasn't a completely unpicked beach. We had a lot of fun though.
Thank you for the lesson on chert, jasper and agates Rob & Sam! I'm headed to Thunder Bay and wasn't feeling overly confident, but now the kids, hubby & I have a better idea of what to look for. Thank you for another great video and 6hrs on a beach with your son sharing a hobby you're both passionate about, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a day. Thanks again and Happy Father's Day!
I'm pretty sure Sam found an artifact. We find lots of them around here. I have arrowheads, scrappers, parts of spearheads and hammer rocks. Definitely need to see a closer picture of it. Nice agate day for Sam and you.
oooOH SAM, you out did the teacher lol, we love your enthusiasm and can't wait to watch another Michigan Rocks video..., We will send info sometime this weekend or coming week for the pits we spoke about. Take care guys and may all FATHERS have a great weekend. Sincerely'N'TRUTH d'Anthony and Tina
Way cool...just the drive is wonderful. THAT'S the U.P.. ....thank you for dry picking! You guys really done good! How wonderful to find a beach not a lot of folks hit hey! And me and my agate picking buddy always had "THE BEST OF SHOW"...whoever got the best agate won the name for the year! (We'd pick every single Labor Day, come hell or high water...and we did it all! We'd pick many times through the years...but Labor Day was THE day, no matter what...)
So the best agate on Labor Day is the Best of Show? None of the other days matter? Sam definitely had Best of Show for our three day trip. I got a pretty good one the next day though. You'll have to wait to see that one.
@@MichiganRocks Oh ANY time you are blessed to pick rocks is a BEST OF SHOW day! Sam sure did...and has he come a long way....from when I started watching....you done real good passing on that knowledge! Well Done!
I grew up in Michigan, my brother is somewhere in the UP camping, I'm hoping he finds some agates for me.... But it's a new found hobby within the last 3 yrs so I doubt he'll take me seriously.. I've been living in GA for the last 2 decades so rocks are very interesting here too, just not as nostalgic as Petoskeys, lighthouses and the smell of the great lakes! I was born in charlevoix!!!☺️
Charlevoix is a nice place with plenty of Petoskey Stones. I can see why you'd miss it. My family and I made a video at Fisherman's Island State Park last year. We didn't have a lot of time, so we spent the whole time right in front of the campground. I would have liked to have gone much farther.
I have to say it again; I really appreciate and love the agate in the thumbnail. Folded Agates ARE SO RARE. They look like a Waterlevel was folded in half. So cool. Fortunate find in any size, but that is a really good sized one.
@@MichiganRocks I've never heard it before either. I made it up, because the first time I saw this, I thought what a really cool looking agate. I've seen a couple of them from up there, and a few from the central/southern part of Minnesota, but I don't see any that style found around the Northshore areas.
We were at that beach June 17-19th, 2021. The truck made it, but it was a nail bitter. I think the tires were the only thing that got us back out of there. We took quads after that. My husband found his first agate. He was doing a happy dance on the beach. After dark we looked for yopperstones and didn’t find much. We were surprised at that. Someone sanitized the whole beach. More reason to get into other beautiful rocks. Love your videos:)
We were there about a week earlier. We didn't look for Yooperlites at that beach, but the one we went to had been picked clean too. We found some last year, so I wasn't too disappointed.
Wow those agates are amazing! The one that Sam found with the really vibrant bands is my favorite. Now i know what to look for when i go to the beach next time. The drone footage was breathtakingly exquisite. It was interesting to see the black sand from above like that, it sort of reminds me of yin and yang.😍🥰😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😍🥰😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: Sam's omar would make a great cone insence burner!!! Agates from that locale are so very colorful. When I see that many rocks I have an urge to lay down, wave my arms and legs, and make "stone angels"!!! Lol!!! 😇 Such a treat to come along on this beautiful adventure!
Grew up hunting agates in the creek behind my house, I called my method..dislocating your eyes but training your brain to spot anything different, like I would not focus on anything but let the different ones jump out at me. Worked very well.. weird way but wth right? Have buckets of agates...Enjoy your videos..
I have heard of a method like that. I try to do something like that myself. I think it works better in dry rocks. Most of the time, I just let myself enjoy all the rocks though.
That was a great hunt, we are headed to Grand Marais in about a week for a hunt. I'll settle for being half as succesful as you and Sam on this trip. We usually hit Whitefish, Two Hearted, the State Park, and Perry's Landing. This year we are shooting for Vermillion Point too. Thanks for this video.
I like Vermillion. Last time I was there, it was really rough and the beach was mostly sand. The rocks were in the water, but it was impossible to see much that day.
You and Sam had a very successful day! Thanks for the advice at the end. I think I’m going to spend more time with the dry rocks next time I’m up there.
What a nice spot... amazing finds 👏 the drone footage is so cool... I hope to get to a nice spot in a few days with my boys ... they are really starting to get into it after they are seeing some of the things we can make 😃... oh nice your panning too... a super sluice just hit my step... still waiting on my lap discs to get here... just made a surround for my buffer and a water reservoir should make it easier than just using the pads and dipping 😃 looks like it is going to work 😅
You're really getting into this, George. It's fun to hear about the stuff you're doing. I'm not that into gold panning, but I do it a little. If I find a good pile of black sand, I bring a little home to play with. I built a miller table to make getting the gold out of black sand a little easier.
Sorry I’m late checking in this time. We had a surprise 50th birthday party for my son last night. I think that beach would be well worth revisiting in the future. You guys found some really nice agates this time. The Jeep ride reminded me of some of the sandy ATV trails that we travel through. I’ve often thought that it might be beneficial to take a backpack garden sprayer and spray the dry area of stones on the beach. Nice hunt !!!
I brought a garden sprayer to a beach once to look for Petoskeys, but it's just too time consuming to wet down the beach as you look. I'd rather just go into the water. I think next year I'll bring my air compressor so I can air down my tires for the sand and pump them back up again when I'm done.
Lol I was up that way in my lifted Jeep Cherokee a few months ago hunting rocks and was afraid of those roads so i turned around 🙈. That soft stuff will get ya. Might have to head back up there soon its beautiful. Have a good one ✌
That's the ticket. Have to go to places that haven't been so picked over. Coast Guard Road over by Muskellunge ( sp) is usually pretty lucky. Went to Two Heart campground last Sept. It looked like Christmas with all the people on the beach looking for yooperlites. Three mile on the way to Crisp Point used to be good. Not even sure if you can still get to it.Thanks for the awesome videos. 3 weeks from today we will be there.
Coast Guard Line Road was the road we were on in this video. Definitely a bit more remote than Crisp Point or Muskallonge or Two Hearted, although I like those places too.
Funny you mentioned Three Mile Creek turn off. I walked that little turn off loop on the west side of the creek a few days ago looking for the short ATV trail leading to the the lake and I could not find any path that branched off of it. I wonder if it got covered up by ferns. I will definitely give it another try when I head up that way and probably bushwhack next time.
That black sand (magnetite) and the garnet... that was really cool. Thanks again for taking the time with all the other cool rocks. Of course, the agates are obviously AMAZING. I wonder if the magnetite and garnet are eroding out of a local rock or just out of the gravels in general? Also, do you think that most of that gravel originated from glacial till brought down from far to the north? Such an amazing variety of material.
I think a lot of those rocks were brought there by glaciers. I'm not sure where the black sand comes from originally, but I see it in Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. I see more in Lake Superior though.
I feel like I show too much of that on my videos, but I just love the stuff. I don't take much home anymore, but I still like to appreciate it on the beach.
Really cool video, I like these rock hunts the best. Those rocks in the water were absolutely gorgeous. I was trying to look at them all as you walked along.
@@MichiganRocks never boring for me. These are the best videos. Looking forward to the next tumbling series. I need to video some more of my finds and add some more to my little channel so I can show you what jifind and tumble. I have a nice load in my big barrel now
@@MichiganRocks My husband and I both drive Jeeps out here on the Oregon Coast, that was a nice treat to see your Jeep in action before the fabulous rocks... 🥰
@@theresawatson6706 I didn't bring my compressor with me and I was a little concerned about getting stuck. There's no cell service there and we were a long way from civilization. This summer I'll bring my compressor so I can air down my tires if necessary.
Another great video and thanks for the info on how to identify an agate. The potato description is something someone told me while rock hunting this week near Crisp Point. I also found my first agate this past week.
@@MichiganRocks The one pictured is pinky agate, very nice. I'd be seriously packing at that place with all of the wonderful colors! Thanks for sharing.
Great finds. I have been collecting since I was a kid. A few other features with lake superior agates, sometimes the surface might be covered in limonite, which is a form of iron oxide, but is mustard yellow in appearance, pitted surface is another give away.
I don't see as much limonite on the rocks in this area as I see in rocks coming out of other places like Minnesota. I do know what it looks like though. In general, I don't get enough time on Lake Superior beaches to have a great eye for agates. I find a few, but not as many as I'd like to.
@@MichiganRocks it definitely takes an eye to spot them. Sometimes they can look like other rocks especially when there isn't details showing through the husk.
thank you... I always have wondered... once you are editing/posting do you sometimes see rocks you overlooked and wished it had caught your eye earlier
That never happens. Other people see all sorts of things that they wish I had picked up, but I never do. I think I'm just too focused on the rock in my hand as I'm zooming in on it and trying to keep it centered while editing.
I have found gold in almost every pan of black sand that I have panned. There's not much and it's tiny, but it's almost always there. I have also met people on the beach with small sluices who are finding gold.
That one you picked up right after the Unakite I believe was an agate. I sensed it as you were picking up the Unakite. It might have been jaz, but it might have been a BIG piece of Chalcedony too.
I found a bunch of rocks like the one at 9.15 on this video near Grand Marais. Can you identify what it is?. Love your videos and appreciate the time and effort you put in to making them so appealing.
@@selfretired3025 Actually, some of the thundereggs found on the Keweenaw have a blue shade, and I have an agate from Isle Royale that is blue/grey/white, so they do exist.
I never know what those are . They're never banded like an agate. They are translucent. They do not look like other quartz. I rarely bring them home because they often have a layer in them that is sort of porous and does not tumble well.
That *_definitely_* looks like an artifact! It even has the groove where the haft would have been lashed to. Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't see any tooling marks after spending that long on the beach though.
I’m a newbie to rockhounding but am binge watching videos and I think that’s a jacobsville sandstone at 8:10. Came up to the UP last month and found my first Petoskey, Charlevoix, very small yooperlite, septarian, cladapora, horn coral and chain coral!! Didn’t find any pudding stones tho! Had a lot of fun and can’t wait to come up north again (from Central Indiana)!
I thought someone would tell me that's sandstone. I'm not sure what it is, but it's much finer grained than sandstone is. I have no idea if it will tumble though, it might be soft. I haven't really checked yet. Where were you in the U.P.? Those sound like rocks from a little farther south in Lake Michigan or Lake Huron.
You know I found one of those weird chert a week and a half ago. Unusually smooth, and transitioning from near clear to beige, and it has banding in it too. Found it in a creek in S. St. Louis Co.. As soon as I saw yours, and you said "weird chert", I immediately remembered mine. I thought it might too have, or be a fossil, but nope. Kinda swirly in the clearer areas.
I just love all you videos. I cannot wait til our August trip to the UP- going agate hunting!! We will have our 350 4x4- not sure we could make it down those trails to get to these beaches. Unless you think our truck could make it down there…
I would never suggest that someone go down that road. I have no idea of you could make it or not, but it's very sandy. My Jeep was working hard to plow through it.
That's one of the only times I have panned black sand in that area that I didn't find gold. I did two pans from that same spot. I would have tested some down the beach, but if I decided to take some home, that's a long way to haul it. Black sand is really heavy.
Middle of nowhere = good rocks and agates. The x rock would be neat polished up as long as the x didn’t disappear. I have been liking the striped rocks lately too. Sam’s drusy rock was really neat. It’s amazing that the crystals were still inside after getting sloshed around in the water for so long. I would have a hard time not walking in the water too, just because of all the colors. It would be pretty to make a shallow pond or water feature and put a bunch of the colorful rocks in the bottom that are too big for the tumbler. The colors seem to show up more when the rocks are wet.
I have put rocks with crystal pockets in the tumbler with nothing to protect them and the crystals come out intact. It's really hard for the tumbler to get into any place that is concave, especially really deep ones.
Haha!!! We camp there every year!! I know exactly where you were. My sisters cabin is only three miles from there. It is an excellent hike from Little Lake to Crisp point!!
Yea, when an agate has breccia it's called a Ruin, as opposed to other rocks and minerals. Looks like there are some, red flowers, that's called Plume; if it's web looking it's Moss. Plumes and Moss can be any color an agate can be. I haven't finished the video yet. I have a habit of leaving comments as I watch some videos.
First, I try to limit myself so that I don't end up with more rocks at home than I can do something with. I like to either tumble my rocks or make something out of them. I rarely take home something that will just set around as is. So I only take a few rocks that I really like and l think will take a good polish.
What did you use to get to the beach? Years ago I used a 4wd dodge truck. Was always scared to get to sandy of a trail. Was west of whitefish. Towards the lite house
I have a nice air compressor, but didn't bring it with me. I had never been on roads with this much sand up there. The nearest gas station was about an hour away, so I didn't air down. That was my plan if we got in trouble though.
@@MichiganRocks Yeah. The piece I found was on a government reserve. I was doing some surveillance and stumbled over the "bowl" then about 20 yards over was the "grinding" stone. After some looking around, I discovered that I was next to the pioneer road. Of course, I had to leave em where I found em.
I found a red granite with a quartz inclusion with a cavity running through filled with crystal points.I've also found a matrix with thick quartz veins.
I found a really cool rock at our county fairgrounds by the dairy beef arena and when I put it through the first stage of tumbling it turned out to be an agate! What should I do now. I know you don’t tumble yours but I’d like this to be shiny and don’t want to ruin it.
Im wanting to take a vacation to lake michigan. We have 3 kids ages 7,4,1. We all enjoy rock hunting. Where would you recommend for a good place with beaches to explore. Does not have to be camp site. We would prefer like a cabin or staying in a small town.
I live on the other side of the state near Lake Huron. I make occasional day trips over to Lake Michigan, but don't stay in hotels there, so I can't really recommend anything. I don't imagine you'll be covering a lot of ground with the one year old, so you'll be in spots that have a lot of competition for the rocks. You should still be able to find a few fun things though. Here are some of the places that I have hunted with a short write up of each: Christmas Cove, Northport - You can find Petoskey Stones, other fossils, and chert here. Walk as far from the parking lot as you can. Peterson Park, Northport - Lots of rocks and lots of beach here. Walk as far from the parking lot as you can and you will start to find Petoskey Stones. ua-cam.com/video/VGSHOzH5TEs/v-deo.html Van’s Beach, Leland - This beach is known for Leland Blue, a slag glass. There are also Petoskey Stones, here. There were a lot of people looking for rocks when I was here. I hunted to the south and did better the farther I got from the parking lot. The water was high and I wasn’t able to get around the first point. ua-cam.com/video/iqCB-WGUIJs/v-deo.html North Beach, Northport - I did really well on this beach in the spring. It’s just on the other side of the river from Van’s Beach. I was lucky to be there on a calm day when I could walk farther. There’s a break wall that I was told is hard to get around if there are big waves. With calm water, I could easily wade past it. This let me explore a lot farther. I found Leland Blue slag, Petoskey Stones, and a couple puddingstones. ua-cam.com/video/7yYF-TWaDGM/v-deo.html Behind D&W Fresh Market, Petoskey - This is not the most beautiful beach, but there are quite a few Petoskey stones here. If the water is calm, try wading out to find some. I did this in the very early spring and did well, but in the summer, the rocks will probably be more covered in silt and algae later in the summer. In that case, walk the edge of the water. Fisherman’s Island State Park, Charlevoix - I went here with my family and we were able to find a few Petoskey Stones right in front of the campground. I would have liked to walk well away from the campground, but there wasn’t time. ua-cam.com/video/aNSNfuej8-E/v-deo.html Norwood Township Park, Norwood - This is a great place to find banded chert. It’s not the really good banded chert, but it does tumble well. I kayaked to the south to find some really cool rock walls. The water was high so it would have been hard to walk to the spot I kayaked to. It would probably be walkable when the water is lower. ua-cam.com/video/lCXkTWRTu6E/v-deo.html Antrim Creek Natural Area (Rex Beach) - This spot has quite a few Petoskey Stones and I also found a puddingstone here. Barnes Park - This beach is supposed to have Petoskey Stones, but I only found a few very small ones here. I made a video, but never posted it because I found so little.
The lake water is so clean. There is no slime or bubbly foam, as you can see. I live on Lke Superior in N. Wisc year around. Crisp & clean environment. A joy to live here. The Porcupine Mts of Michigan can be seen from here. Agate hunting is a great summer activity.
Yep, I love how cold and clean Lake Superior is.
Really nice one Rob and Sam. Thanks for the lesson on agates. You found some beauties...
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice agates! Thank you for the lesson on their identification in relation to other microcrystaline rocks. Well done!
I'm glad you liked that part. I don't know how helpful it was, but those are some of the rocks that grab my attention that are not agates. It's still good to take a look at them though.
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Love the stone ax 👍👍
That's a beach to go to a lot and it's good because it doesn't see a lot of people. That many agates in that amount of time is amazing. Each set of large waves will load it back up again and move the rocks that are there around so you can find new ones. Beautiful agates. Sam, you definitely have an eye for it. I don't think that's a paint and might even be a jelly. It's a killer, either way. In the remote area of Superior where I fish, we would often stop at remote beaches and anchor with a 2-point method, so you don't get stranded on the beach by waves. Go over areas with large rocks carefully, because this is obviously a beach that hasn't been picked that often. The size of agate you find is usually the size of the gravel in that area. What a great day to share with your son. I was excited watching the video from bed. Thank you!
One reason to really go over areas on a beach where you are finding more agates is usually because there are offshore reefs, or areas on the bottom offshore in that area where larger agates exist. Smaller agates break off those big ones and are washed up on shore, which is why some areas of a beach always seem to produce - there are larger agates offshore in that area.
We did really well on this beach, but we did see footprints the whole way. I don't think there were many people on the beach, but it's harder to tell in rocks than in sand.
Sam finds more agate than I do for a few reasons. First, he's just good at it. He also has much better eyes than I do. But the other reason is that he tends to look in smaller rocks where there are more agates. I try to look in a little larger rocks hoping to find that big one. I think both ways have their merit, depending on what size agates make you happy.
By the way, Sam is my neighbor, not my son. We had a couple people that we ran into make the same mistake.
@@MichiganRocks Nice of you to take Sam picking. He has picked up a lot of knowledge fast and he has many years ahead of him. I've picked for over 45 years, but I was in college before I started. Back then picking agates wasn't as popular, so we often had long stretches of beach to ourselves and it was much easier to get permission to pick in quarries and other private property. Most land owners had no idea what an agate was and they thought I was nuts to just want to pick rocks. After a blow, good beaches were loaded at the water line. Larger agates were much more common because they rarely were cherry picked and most people didn't pick in quarries and big washes. I used to have good eyes, but age has a way of changing that. I picked up a couple of foam gardening cushions and I would kneel, eventually sit, on one why I moved the other one and transfer to the other cushion when it was time to move. I was right on the ground and it allowed me to work an area thoroughly before moving ahead. That works regardless of where you are picking. But, young eyes definitely have an advantage. We go from eagle eye to buzzard eye. Lol
@@thinkcivil1627 My eyes have degraded a lot in the last five years. I never wore glasses, but I'm lost without reading glasses now. I carry a loupe with me, but often just hand a rock to Sam and ask him to check for bands. It's nice to have him along even if he does out pick me.
@@MichiganRocks Some of the nicest agates I've found didn't have bands showing and quite a few simply had rough husk all the way around. You are looking for variables when picking agates, but don't get caught up in having to see bands on the outside for you to identify them. Quite often, I had to remove some of the husk on the lap to get to the bands under it. The thorough way in which you tumble would accomplish that for a lot of smaller agates and you have all the necessary equipment to work on the larger agates with no bands showing. That is a fun video to watch and having Sam along adds to the enthusiasm.
Thank you for taking us with you! Love the sound of the water!! Plus, giving a nice lesson on how to find an agate ! 😊
It was a very beginner lesson on agate hunting, but that's where I'm at with agates.
Awesome finds you guys. That is my kind of beach. No one around. Really nice agates. Thanks for sharing
Even though we didn't see another person, there were tracks in the rocks, so someone had already looked that beach over since the last big storm. I think we still did well though.
I just like it empty when I'm on a beach or at least not many there. And yes you both found some beautiful rocks and agates. Not so sure I would dare take my truck down that trail though.
@@donnalantz7981 It was a little hairy on that road.
I have a good 4x4 truck. It should make it. I hope. If I get up that way this year maybe I'll check it out.
@@donnalantz7981 Good luck. Don't blame me if you get stuck, ok?
You both found some awesome rocks. I'd love to have a couple buckets of those natural water tumbled rocks. Every thing is so beautiful
I agree, we did very well.
Okay toooo many beautiful rocks!!!! I would need a U-haul!!!!! Lol … Love you and Sam hunting together. Thanks for the adventure !! 😊👍🏽❤️
A U-Haul would be difficult to get down that road.
@@MichiganRocks you’d have to make several trips with the 4-wheeler to where you HAD to park the Jeep! I’ve HAD to do that with carrying rocks out to the car...🤷🏻♀️ Sometimes my bucket gets too heavy!😆
The thing I love the most about Lake Superior is you find such a beautiful variety of stones!
I agree. I do pretty well in Lake Huron for variety too, but the rocks in Lake Superior are different than in Lake Huron.
Great finds Rob. That is some the best rock hunting ground you've ever shown. Everything looked worth investigating. "X" marks the rock!
It was a good beach. We did well the next day too.
A+ video. EUP agates seem to be very popular on online agate sales. They have their own “look” which from what I’ve seen is a more water washed appearance. Beautiful location, thanks making this video.
I am not active in the buying and selling of agates, so I'm not really up on the differences. It seems like agates from this area are not quite as red as some from Minnesota and Wisconsin. I found a really nice yellow one the next day, but that will be on a future video.
Awesome agates with great banding. I love how you show a cleaned up version of the rocks.
Yet another place we visited this past week. More rocks than you imagine here! Spent a lot of time driving but all was worth it! Keep up the great Michigan videos!
Did you go down Coast Guard Line Road?
We took 414 to 423 right to the state park area and hiked the shoreline out. I drive a 3/4 ton heavy duty truck that does not do well in the dune sand roads we found out!
I love the big grin on Sam's face when he found a good one - and you looked pretty happy too! :D
There was a lot of joy on the beach at that moment. Happy, happy, happy!
I know that beach well. Been a few years since visiting but the road was awful back then as well. However, that's why it's a great place for rocks; the average car/suv will not make it back there. Even a 4x4 with the wrong tires will have issues but thankfully, the Rubicons come equipped! So, your rock at 1:20: either a banded sandstone or banded limestone with two different grain sizes. Otherwise, the beach looks the same with plenty of granite/gneiss and agates. I wonder how that beach would be for glowy rocks??
I wasn't about to tackle that road at night just in case I got stuck. I bought a really nice air compressor for a trip we made to Colorado so that I could air down my tires. I really wish I had had it with me for this trip.
@@MichiganRocks Don't blame ya. I suppose you could camp out there, but the flies may carry you off! 😝
c for me liken rocks for the colors textures uniqueness I have so many potatoes lookn ones even the ones with dark spots but mines r bigger I wish I can upload pics and grays and small shiny blacks geeze I wna know what r the ones I have r called
Thanks for sharing your trip! Beautiful scenery and rocks galore. I need to get back up there.
So many cool finds! I went to Michigan once in the winter and saw Lake Michigan for just a little while. It was beautiful and I even picked up a few rocks. I would love to go back.
If you liked it in the winter, there's a good chance you'd really like it in the summer.
Those rocks you guys found are just stunning.
I really enjoyed this video. You were both so happy. I think you probably found so many agates because you were out in the middle of nowhere on mostly unpicked grounds. Agates also look very different in the different areas of the country. Out where I am, on the West Coast, we have a lot of almost clear agates and the bands can be very obvious. Carnelian is also more common. You guys had some great luck.
I try to get to as remote of places as possible. We still saw footprints everywhere we went that day, so it wasn't a completely unpicked beach. We had a lot of fun though.
Thank you for the lesson on chert, jasper and agates Rob & Sam! I'm headed to Thunder Bay and wasn't feeling overly confident, but now the kids, hubby & I have a better idea of what to look for. Thank you for another great video and 6hrs on a beach with your son sharing a hobby you're both passionate about, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a day. Thanks again and Happy Father's Day!
Good luck on your beach hunts, Ange! I hope we helped a little.
Rob, I'll be sure to share some pictures of our finds! My daughter said to tell you thank you for all the help and tips
@@angef9687 Tell her she's welcome and I hope she finds lots of good stuff.
Hello how are you guys wow rockhungting together I enjoy watching you guys and i love those rocks that your picking up they look amazing lol 👍👍👍
We enjoy hunting together. It's nice to have company on the beach.
Great finds; Sam has a good eye. You guys looked a little sunburnt. But a good time was had by all, including your subscribers.
We had a really nice trip. No one got sunburned, we both were pretty good about putting on sunblock. I'm glad you enjoyed the hunt too.
I'm pretty sure Sam found an artifact. We find lots of them around here. I have arrowheads, scrappers, parts of spearheads and hammer rocks. Definitely need to see a closer picture of it. Nice agate day for Sam and you.
Might be an artifact, but it seemed like it was too soft. I don't know much about these things at all though.
oooOH SAM, you out did the teacher lol, we love your enthusiasm and can't wait to watch another Michigan Rocks video..., We will send info sometime this weekend or coming week for the pits we spoke about.
Take care guys and may all FATHERS have a great weekend.
Sincerely'N'TRUTH d'Anthony and Tina
Sam's first time agate hunting was about this time last year and he caught on very quickly. He almost always outdoes me.
Way cool...just the drive is wonderful. THAT'S the U.P.. ....thank you for dry picking! You guys really done good! How wonderful to find a beach not a lot of folks hit hey! And me and my agate picking buddy always had "THE BEST OF SHOW"...whoever got the best agate won the name for the year! (We'd pick every single Labor Day, come hell or high water...and we did it all! We'd pick many times through the years...but Labor Day was THE day, no matter what...)
And after a big fire like that, Jack Pines will grow first...they need fire to pop their seeds.
So the best agate on Labor Day is the Best of Show? None of the other days matter? Sam definitely had Best of Show for our three day trip. I got a pretty good one the next day though. You'll have to wait to see that one.
@@MichiganRocks Oh ANY time you are blessed to pick rocks is a BEST OF SHOW day! Sam sure did...and has he come a long way....from when I started watching....you done real good passing on that knowledge! Well Done!
And after a fire like that, you’ll start to get some really good blueberry pickin’ in a few years!😋
@@littledabwilldoya9717AMEN to that!
Hi Rob & Sam, Great beach! pretty stones, I love it! The greens & reds are fantastic, I am a fan of jasper and epidotes & of course agates !!!
Those are all great rocks to be a fan of.
I grew up in Michigan, my brother is somewhere in the UP camping, I'm hoping he finds some agates for me.... But it's a new found hobby within the last 3 yrs so I doubt he'll take me seriously.. I've been living in GA for the last 2 decades so rocks are very interesting here too, just not as nostalgic as Petoskeys, lighthouses and the smell of the great lakes! I was born in charlevoix!!!☺️
Charlevoix is a nice place with plenty of Petoskey Stones. I can see why you'd miss it. My family and I made a video at Fisherman's Island State Park last year. We didn't have a lot of time, so we spent the whole time right in front of the campground. I would have liked to have gone much farther.
I have to say it again; I really appreciate and love the agate in the thumbnail. Folded Agates ARE SO RARE. They look like a Waterlevel was folded in half. So cool. Fortunate find in any size, but that is a really good sized one.
I don't know if I've heard the term "folded agate" before, but it definitely describes this one really well.
@@MichiganRocks I've never heard it before either. I made it up, because the first time I saw this, I thought what a really cool looking agate. I've seen a couple of them from up there, and a few from the central/southern part of Minnesota, but I don't see any that style found around the Northshore areas.
We were at that beach June 17-19th, 2021. The truck made it, but it was a nail bitter. I think the tires were the only thing that got us back out of there. We took quads after that.
My husband found his first agate. He was doing a happy dance on the beach. After dark we looked for yopperstones and didn’t find much. We were surprised at that. Someone sanitized the whole beach. More reason to get into other beautiful rocks. Love your videos:)
We were there about a week earlier. We didn't look for Yooperlites at that beach, but the one we went to had been picked clean too. We found some last year, so I wasn't too disappointed.
Wow those agates are amazing! The one that Sam found with the really vibrant bands is my favorite. Now i know what to look for when i go to the beach next time. The drone footage was breathtakingly exquisite. It was interesting to see the black sand from above like that, it sort of reminds me of yin and yang.😍🥰😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😍🥰😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
There's a ton of black sand on that beach. That's not uncommon on beaches in this area, but this one has more than most.
@@MichiganRocks I hope you find some gold in that sand next time 😍🥰😇👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@Indyanas_ocean_view I usually do. It's tiny and doesn't add up to much but it's still fun to find.
@@MichiganRocks Cool 😎.
Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: Sam's omar would make a great cone insence burner!!! Agates from that locale are so very colorful. When I see that many rocks I have an urge to lay down, wave my arms and legs, and make "stone angels"!!! Lol!!! 😇 Such a treat to come along on this beautiful adventure!
Stone angels? That's a tough one.
I think he won the contest with that one stone. And be happy, safe and stay healthy😷⚒
Sam definitely found the best rock of the trip.
Grew up hunting agates in the creek behind my house, I called my method..dislocating your eyes but training your brain to spot anything different, like I would not focus on anything but let the different ones jump out at me. Worked very well.. weird way but wth right? Have buckets of agates...Enjoy your videos..
I have heard of a method like that. I try to do something like that myself. I think it works better in dry rocks. Most of the time, I just let myself enjoy all the rocks though.
That was a great hunt, we are headed to Grand Marais in about a week for a hunt. I'll settle for being half as succesful as you and Sam on this trip. We usually hit Whitefish, Two Hearted, the State Park, and Perry's Landing. This year we are shooting for Vermillion Point too. Thanks for this video.
I like Vermillion. Last time I was there, it was really rough and the beach was mostly sand. The rocks were in the water, but it was impossible to see much that day.
You and Sam had a very successful day! Thanks for the advice at the end. I think I’m going to spend more time with the dry rocks next time I’m up there.
I find it very difficult to stay out of the water, but if you're after agates only, that's the way to go.
What a nice spot... amazing finds 👏 the drone footage is so cool... I hope to get to a nice spot in a few days with my boys ... they are really starting to get into it after they are seeing some of the things we can make 😃... oh nice your panning too... a super sluice just hit my step... still waiting on my lap discs to get here... just made a surround for my buffer and a water reservoir should make it easier than just using the pads and dipping 😃 looks like it is going to work 😅
You're really getting into this, George. It's fun to hear about the stuff you're doing.
I'm not that into gold panning, but I do it a little. If I find a good pile of black sand, I bring a little home to play with. I built a miller table to make getting the gold out of black sand a little easier.
Love that folded agate. Don't see many of those around Duluth. U.P. and towards the cities; don't know why. Nice one too.
I've heard that there are some agates in the eastern U.P. that are unique to that area. I'm not sure which ones those are though.
And that rock on the front page is my kinda rock! Magnificent... wish I could find a fossil though, I'll keep looking
Where I live there are fossils everywhere.
Great video. Amazing agates. I like that you show the close-ups after finding the agates. Nice touch. Awesome day on the beach...
The GoPro is not made for close ups. It's ok for bigger rocks, but those little ones just don't show up.
Sorry I’m late checking in this time. We had a surprise 50th birthday party for my son last night. I think that beach would be well worth revisiting in the future. You guys found some really nice agates this time. The Jeep ride reminded me of some of the sandy ATV trails that we travel through. I’ve often thought that it might be beneficial to take a backpack garden sprayer and spray the dry area of stones on the beach. Nice hunt !!!
I brought a garden sprayer to a beach once to look for Petoskeys, but it's just too time consuming to wet down the beach as you look. I'd rather just go into the water.
I think next year I'll bring my air compressor so I can air down my tires for the sand and pump them back up again when I'm done.
Congratulations Sam on the awesome agates! You had some nice ones too Rob :)
That kind of sounds like I got a trophy for "participation". I guess that's about right, though.
Lol I was up that way in my lifted Jeep Cherokee a few months ago hunting rocks and was afraid of those roads so i turned around 🙈. That soft stuff will get ya. Might have to head back up there soon its beautiful. Have a good one ✌
I was definitely nervous, but my Jeep got me through.
Oooh nooo! 😟 I really liked the granite with the wide band of pink at 10:33 but you didn't keep it
I have a no granite policy. It was really nice though.
That's the ticket. Have to go to places that haven't been so picked over. Coast Guard Road over by Muskellunge ( sp) is usually pretty lucky. Went to Two Heart campground last Sept. It looked like Christmas with all the people on the beach looking for yooperlites. Three mile on the way to Crisp Point used to be good. Not even sure if you can still get to it.Thanks for the awesome videos. 3 weeks from today we will be there.
Coast Guard Line Road was the road we were on in this video. Definitely a bit more remote than Crisp Point or Muskallonge or Two Hearted, although I like those places too.
Funny you mentioned Three Mile Creek turn off. I walked that little turn off loop on the west side of the creek a few days ago looking for the short ATV trail leading to the the lake and I could not find any path that branched off of it. I wonder if it got covered up by ferns. I will definitely give it another try when I head up that way and probably bushwhack next time.
Middle of nowhere is nice. Very pretty agates today, Rob. Nice editing. Great find Sam! I think you've made me a chert fan. TFS 💖🦅🦅
A good banded chert is a great rock. Middle of nowhere is exactly where I like to be.
That black sand (magnetite) and the garnet... that was really cool. Thanks again for taking the time with all the other cool rocks. Of course, the agates are obviously AMAZING. I wonder if the magnetite and garnet are eroding out of a local rock or just out of the gravels in general? Also, do you think that most of that gravel originated from glacial till brought down from far to the north? Such an amazing variety of material.
I think a lot of those rocks were brought there by glaciers. I'm not sure where the black sand comes from originally, but I see it in Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. I see more in Lake Superior though.
id say that is a 3/4 or full groove axe head... if indeed it is, great find! thanks for sharing!
Awesome finds! I cant turn away epidote and unakite either. Lol
I feel like I show too much of that on my videos, but I just love the stuff. I don't take much home anymore, but I still like to appreciate it on the beach.
My daughter and I have talked about how the green always appeals to us, and we have to check it out!😍
Really cool video, I like these rock hunts the best.
Those rocks in the water were absolutely gorgeous.
I was trying to look at them all as you walked along.
Sometimes I try to walk really slowly so you can see the rocks on the beach, but then I wonder if that just gets too boring for some people.
@@MichiganRocks never boring for me.
These are the best videos.
Looking forward to the next tumbling series.
I need to video some more of my finds and add some more to my little channel so I can show you what jifind and tumble. I have a nice load in my big barrel now
SAM's beautiful banded agate looked like a SNAIL wet in the sand🙃🤗🤣👍👏👏👏👏👏👏
That's a good comparison!
Good thing you had your mighty Jeep! Fun trip, great finds!
I wouldn't have been going here with a lesser vehicle. I was really glad I had it.
@@MichiganRocks My husband and I both drive Jeeps out here on the Oregon Coast, that was a nice treat to see your Jeep in action before the fabulous rocks... 🥰
@@theresawatson6706 I didn't bring my compressor with me and I was a little concerned about getting stuck. There's no cell service there and we were a long way from civilization. This summer I'll bring my compressor so I can air down my tires if necessary.
Another great video and thanks for the info on how to identify an agate. The potato description is something someone told me while rock hunting this week near Crisp Point. I also found my first agate this past week.
Congratulations, agates are tough to find. Crisp Point is a great beach.
I love all of the pink rocks you are passing by.
I take a pink one home every once in awhile.
@@MichiganRocks The one pictured is pinky agate, very nice. I'd be seriously packing at that place with all of the wonderful colors! Thanks for sharing.
Love your smile!!!!!
Great finds. I have been collecting since I was a kid. A few other features with lake superior agates, sometimes the surface might be covered in limonite, which is a form of iron oxide, but is mustard yellow in appearance, pitted surface is another give away.
I don't see as much limonite on the rocks in this area as I see in rocks coming out of other places like Minnesota. I do know what it looks like though. In general, I don't get enough time on Lake Superior beaches to have a great eye for agates. I find a few, but not as many as I'd like to.
@@MichiganRocks it definitely takes an eye to spot them. Sometimes they can look like other rocks especially when there isn't details showing through the husk.
@@troylarsen2454 It's hard to practice when I live five hours from Lake Superior.
@@MichiganRocks I understand that.
Your smiles made me smile! That was fun.
It was a smily day.
Hope to get to the UP in the future to find some Agates. Got my Petoskey's all polished and looking great.
Hey, good job on the Petoskeys!
Very beautiful agate that I found.
Awesome, I'm glad you found good one.
thank you... I always have wondered... once you are editing/posting do you sometimes see rocks you overlooked and wished it had caught your eye earlier
That never happens. Other people see all sorts of things that they wish I had picked up, but I never do. I think I'm just too focused on the rock in my hand as I'm zooming in on it and trying to keep it centered while editing.
Waxy rocks are jaspers usually, awesome finds thanks for sharing 😊💙
On this beach, I'd say the most common waxy rock is chert. There's quite a bit of chert.
@@MichiganRocks My understanding is that jasper can be red or yellow so I believe when we say chert it can also be called yellow jasper.
@@jimknarr I looked up the difference between jasper and chert the other day and found that the answer is not clear at all.
Great rocks! I'm looking to go exploring all around that area and more. I suspect gold would not be on a top layer of beach sand, even if it's black.
I have found gold in almost every pan of black sand that I have panned. There's not much and it's tiny, but it's almost always there. I have also met people on the beach with small sluices who are finding gold.
I'm a sucker for stripes too, even when the rock makeup isn't neccessarily the one I'm after. Nice walk as usual! Thanks for sharing.
I like any marking that makes the rock interesting.
That one you picked up right after the Unakite I believe was an agate. I sensed it as you were picking up the Unakite. It might have been jaz, but it might have been a BIG piece of Chalcedony too.
I'm not a great agate picker since I live at least four hours from agate beaches. I don't get to practice hunting them as much as I would like.
I found a bunch of rocks like the one at 9.15 on this video near Grand Marais. Can you identify what it is?. Love your videos and appreciate the time and effort you put in to making them so appealing.
Glad you mentioned it. It looked like a chunker of an agate to me!
Looks like a big massive quartz, but quite colourful...
@@captpaul8827 I thought about that too but haven't found such blue in quartz up there. I assumed he dropped it because it was cracked so bad.
@@selfretired3025 Actually, some of the thundereggs found on the Keweenaw have a blue shade, and I have an agate from Isle Royale that is blue/grey/white, so they do exist.
I never know what those are . They're never banded like an agate. They are translucent. They do not look like other quartz. I rarely bring them home because they often have a layer in them that is sort of porous and does not tumble well.
That *_definitely_* looks like an artifact! It even has the groove where the haft would have been lashed to. Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't see any tooling marks after spending that long on the beach though.
That's a good point about being washed around in the lake. It seems like that would erase any tool marks pretty well.
Perfect Minerals
We found some good ones!
I’m a newbie to rockhounding but am binge watching videos and I think that’s a jacobsville sandstone at 8:10. Came up to the UP last month and found my first Petoskey, Charlevoix, very small yooperlite, septarian, cladapora, horn coral and chain coral!! Didn’t find any pudding stones tho! Had a lot of fun and can’t wait to come up north again (from Central Indiana)!
I thought someone would tell me that's sandstone. I'm not sure what it is, but it's much finer grained than sandstone is. I have no idea if it will tumble though, it might be soft. I haven't really checked yet.
Where were you in the U.P.? Those sound like rocks from a little farther south in Lake Michigan or Lake Huron.
@@MichiganRocks we were in Petoskey for 3 days and went up to Tahquamenon Falls and to Whitefish Point for the sunset and yooperlite hunting!
@@MichiganRocks Colour is right for jacobsville, but does look very fine grained. Would have to see in person to be sure.
@@captpaul8827 It might be sandstone, but as you said, it's very fine grained. It's worth a try in the tumbler.
great video and great finds!! hi. have a good afternoon and evening. i hope all is well.
Thanks, Heather.
@@MichiganRocks your welcome!
I was in that area the beginning of July! So many rocks!
So. any rocks, but the agate sure do hide well.
What a pretty day. And such nice finds.
Yep, we did well that day. I love it up there.
You know I found one of those weird chert a week and a half ago. Unusually smooth, and transitioning from near clear to beige, and it has banding in it too. Found it in a creek in S. St. Louis Co.. As soon as I saw yours, and you said "weird chert", I immediately remembered mine. I thought it might too have, or be a fossil, but nope. Kinda swirly in the clearer areas.
I’m glad you understand the technical terms like “weird chert”!
Agates are incredible!
I just love all you videos. I cannot wait til our August trip to the UP- going agate hunting!! We will have our 350 4x4- not sure we could make it down those trails to get to these beaches. Unless you think our truck could make it down there…
I would never suggest that someone go down that road. I have no idea of you could make it or not, but it's very sandy. My Jeep was working hard to plow through it.
A 350 4x4 would make it, but you better have the correct tires for the job! Street tires will not cut it...
@@MichiganRocks Yeah we don’t have the right tires - I’ll just stick with parking around Muskallounge state park - I appreciate the advice!
I’m so glad you test panned the sand. The aerial shots had me wondering if there was really that much black sand. Too bad there was no gold in it.
That's one of the only times I have panned black sand in that area that I didn't find gold. I did two pans from that same spot. I would have tested some down the beach, but if I decided to take some home, that's a long way to haul it. Black sand is really heavy.
Middle of nowhere = good rocks and agates. The x rock would be neat polished up as long as the x didn’t disappear. I have been liking the striped rocks lately too. Sam’s drusy rock was really neat. It’s amazing that the crystals were still inside after getting sloshed around in the water for so long. I would have a hard time not walking in the water too, just because of all the colors. It would be pretty to make a shallow pond or water feature and put a bunch of the colorful rocks in the bottom that are too big for the tumbler. The colors seem to show up more when the rocks are wet.
I have put rocks with crystal pockets in the tumbler with nothing to protect them and the crystals come out intact. It's really hard for the tumbler to get into any place that is concave, especially really deep ones.
@@MichiganRocks I guess that they are more protected and less fragile than they look.
@@sparband More protected for sure. I'm not sure how fragile they actually are.
Haha!!! We camp there every year!! I know exactly where you were. My sisters cabin is only three miles from there. It is an excellent hike from Little Lake to Crisp point!!
I liked that little campground. We had the whole place to ourselves for two nights. Do you drive that Coast Guard Line Road to the beach?
@@MichiganRocks yes we do. My sister has an older Willey's jeep. Have never gotten stuck buy have helped a few terrified others...lol
@@beckyperkins4181 I'd rather help someone else get unstuck rather than get stuck myself.
Hey Rob, were the stable flys bad out there ?
Seems like a large beach and a bit windy so was curious..
Nice finds brother..
They weren't terrible, but we did have some flying around. They seem to be worse over sand than over rocks.
Nice Ruin Plume or Moss; I can't tell without a closer look, but nice, nice hue of red.
I’m not great with all the different types of Lake Superior agates. I don’t find enough to get good at identifying the weird ones.
Yea, when an agate has breccia it's called a Ruin, as opposed to other rocks and minerals. Looks like there are some, red flowers, that's called Plume; if it's web looking it's Moss. Plumes and Moss can be any color an agate can be. I haven't finished the video yet. I have a habit of leaving comments as I watch some videos.
That's my understanding of that area; not many agates. So I understand.
Ok, I didn't know that a ruin agate is just another word for brecciated. I guess that makes sense now that I think about it.
I have heard that purple agates have been found around there good luck.. Have you stopped in at the Agate ladys shop in Grand Marias yet?
I haven't been there this year, but most years I stop in and say hi to Karen.
You find such beautiful rocks. What are your criteria for choosing the ones you end up taking home?
First, I try to limit myself so that I don't end up with more rocks at home than I can do something with. I like to either tumble my rocks or make something out of them. I rarely take home something that will just set around as is. So I only take a few rocks that I really like and l think will take a good polish.
What did you use to get to the beach? Years ago I used a 4wd dodge truck. Was always scared to get to sandy of a trail. Was west of whitefish. Towards the lite house
2018 Jeep Wrangler JL Rubicon.
Perfect Jeep road. Did you air down? You guys made some awesome finds!
I have a nice air compressor, but didn't bring it with me. I had never been on roads with this much sand up there. The nearest gas station was about an hour away, so I didn't air down. That was my plan if we got in trouble though.
Those are some great finds! Way to go Sam! LOL
Looks an artifact. I once found a corn grinding stone. "Gold" is exactly what I was thinking when you said "black sand"
I don't think it's the right kind of stone to make a good ax. It does look like one though.
@@MichiganRocks Yeah. The piece I found was on a government reserve. I was doing some surveillance and stumbled over the "bowl" then about 20 yards over was the "grinding" stone. After some looking around, I discovered that I was next to the pioneer road. Of course, I had to leave em where I found em.
I found a red granite with a quartz inclusion with a cavity running through filled with crystal points.I've also found a matrix with thick quartz veins.
and I'm down here in South Carolina
Those sound really cool.
I found a really cool rock at our county fairgrounds by the dairy beef arena and when I put it through the first stage of tumbling it turned out to be an agate! What should I do now. I know you don’t tumble yours but I’d like this to be shiny and don’t want to ruin it.
Just because I don't tumble mine doesn't mean you can't tumble yours. Since you already started it, I'd run it all the way through.
Great finds! Thank you for the information at the end.
I hope it was helpful.
Yes very helpful.
* Finding Fossils with your stones is Fun. Enjoyed that..
There aren't many fossils on this beach. Some beaches on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are covered with fossils.
I loved that sparkling one that Sam found
Yep, that was pretty cool.
So jealous! Great finds ,😱
There was even a little jealousy on the beach, by both of us at different times.
Cool Agate paydirt day😀
What was the really good one that Sam found called with bands all around it?
I thought it might be a paint agate, but someone who knows a lot more than I do said that it's not.
Some awesome Rock finds, looks like you had to have four-wheel drive to get there !
Four wheel drive was a definite necessity.
Nice quite spot with lots of potential treasure!!
Yep, it was 6.5 hours without seeing anyone but Sam. It's fun to be somewhere so remote.
Excelente video!!! Nice agates!!! Saludos desde Espana!!!
Thanks!
Im wanting to take a vacation to lake michigan. We have 3 kids ages 7,4,1. We all enjoy rock hunting. Where would you recommend for a good place with beaches to explore. Does not have to be camp site. We would prefer like a cabin or staying in a small town.
I live on the other side of the state near Lake Huron. I make occasional day trips over to Lake Michigan, but don't stay in hotels there, so I can't really recommend anything. I don't imagine you'll be covering a lot of ground with the one year old, so you'll be in spots that have a lot of competition for the rocks. You should still be able to find a few fun things though. Here are some of the places that I have hunted with a short write up of each:
Christmas Cove, Northport - You can find Petoskey Stones, other fossils, and chert here. Walk as far from the parking lot as you can.
Peterson Park, Northport - Lots of rocks and lots of beach here. Walk as far from the parking lot as you can and you will start to find Petoskey Stones. ua-cam.com/video/VGSHOzH5TEs/v-deo.html
Van’s Beach, Leland - This beach is known for Leland Blue, a slag glass. There are also Petoskey Stones, here. There were a lot of people looking for rocks when I was here. I hunted to the south and did better the farther I got from the parking lot. The water was high and I wasn’t able to get around the first point. ua-cam.com/video/iqCB-WGUIJs/v-deo.html
North Beach, Northport - I did really well on this beach in the spring. It’s just on the other side of the river from Van’s Beach. I was lucky to be there on a calm day when I could walk farther. There’s a break wall that I was told is hard to get around if there are big waves. With calm water, I could easily wade past it. This let me explore a lot farther. I found Leland Blue slag, Petoskey Stones, and a couple puddingstones. ua-cam.com/video/7yYF-TWaDGM/v-deo.html
Behind D&W Fresh Market, Petoskey - This is not the most beautiful beach, but there are quite a few Petoskey stones here. If the water is calm, try wading out to find some. I did this in the very early spring and did well, but in the summer, the rocks will probably be more covered in silt and algae later in the summer. In that case, walk the edge of the water.
Fisherman’s Island State Park, Charlevoix - I went here with my family and we were able to find a few Petoskey Stones right in front of the campground. I would have liked to walk well away from the campground, but there wasn’t time. ua-cam.com/video/aNSNfuej8-E/v-deo.html
Norwood Township Park, Norwood - This is a great place to find banded chert. It’s not the really good banded chert, but it does tumble well. I kayaked to the south to find some really cool rock walls. The water was high so it would have been hard to walk to the spot I kayaked to. It would probably be walkable when the water is lower. ua-cam.com/video/lCXkTWRTu6E/v-deo.html
Antrim Creek Natural Area (Rex Beach) - This spot has quite a few Petoskey Stones and I also found a puddingstone here.
Barnes Park - This beach is supposed to have Petoskey Stones, but I only found a few very small ones here. I made a video, but never posted it because I found so little.
Where does the black sand come from there?❤
I'm not sure how it got there originally, but when banks wash out, you can see layers of black sand.
Thanks for the videos!
Glad you like them!
Fun day….enjoyed…thank you.
You're welcome. We had fun too.
I wish I could stick my hand in the TV and pick rocks with you!!!!
Lots of people say things like that.