On our second day of agate hunting between Grand Marais and Muskallonge State Park, we think we had a better idea of what to look for when searching for agates. Our first mistake was thinking that anything that had alot of color might be an agate. Not the case, although there are alot of beautiful and colorful rocks on the shores of Lake Superior. From what we understood from the Gitchee Gumee Agate Museum is that we needed to look for rocks that were purplish in color with bands running through it that had some structure to it. Also these agates when dry, have a dull cloudy appearance. So in the bright sunlight, dull and cloudy agates could easily be overlooked.
So we tried it again walking down the beach looking for the elusive agate. I have to say that my wife Pam, had much more ambition in this effort than I did. We still had a lot of “cool” rocks we were picking up and putting them in my backpack. I quickly found out that my field of vision and ambition was inversely proportional to the weight of my backpack. The heavier it was getting the less I was looking and feeling like looking. Every so often though, we would find some “possibles”. Below are two of them and it would be great if someone with a bit greater knowledge of agates would drop us a line and let us know if they actually are.
These are two of what we think could possibly be agates that we found on the shores of Lake Superior.
Well it’s getting a bit late tonight, but tomorrow I will tell you about a neat little restaurant in Grand Marais called the West Bay Diner & Delicatessen. It was a comfortable and friendly place with good food and lots of personality. They also redefine what it means to have fresh food on a buffet.
I will also talk a bit about Pictured Rock National Park that we visited while waiting for the Agate museum to open.
Tags: agate, Michigan, restaurant, state park
The rock on the left in your photo is a Lake Superior agate. I can’t see the left one well enough, but it is probably a jasper: a “first cousin” to the agate.
The one on the left is an agate. The one on the right is not, this is a stone with iron deposits in it which gives it the red banding. But these are a common stone throughout most of Minnesota.
Nice Agate find though!!! (Left Rock)