UP – Things that glow in the dark

UP stands for Upper Peninsula, Michigan.  If you happen to remember how we got stuck, you know we’d have to go back and explore the park we missed because of our misadventure.

So here we are, driving north over Mackinac Bridge, on our way back to the Mouth of Two Hearted River State Forest.

We need to work up the courage to traverse those dirt roads again, so we decided to start our newest adventure at a more accessible place; Muskallonge State Park.

But first: Look! We are at 77777 km.  No triple sixes to hinder our trip this time.

We arrived at Muskallonge State Park at dusk and headed straight to the beach.

The rocks on the beach glowed in the last light, and of course, we had to pick a few nice ones.

On our way back to the campsite we noticed an interesting and informative sign about agate hunting.  Too bad that someone decided to take the agate samples that were attached to this plaque at one time.  Or maybe they just fell off.  Good information nonetheless.

We were back at the campsite in time for dinner and a sunset.

The next morning we drove to Grand Marais to explore the area a little.  But first, we stopped at this lake access point for a bit of rock hunting.

The scoop that Tony made proved to be very useful and with wellies on I was able to scoop some rocks from the water.

The water here are so clear and again, we had the beach to ourselves.  We even found a few agates that we’ll take home and polish.

We arrived at Grand Marais, a smaller place than we imagined it would be, but very charming.

The lake here is just as beautiful and so is the lake,

but we found something a little different.  A Pickle Barrel House.

Yup.  Not only it’s a thing, it is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Take a look at how it came to be.

From the Pickle House we drove to Sable Falls that is within Picture Rocks National Park boundaries.

The sign actually did discourage some people that arrived at the parking lot and they opted not to go, but we did.

There were some sweeping views and lots of stairs.

Every platform presented a different view of the falls,

which was prettier than it looks in the photos.

It was worth the effort back up the 168 stairs.  And no, we didn’t count them.

Back at Muskallonge Park, we were in time for another dinner and a sunset.

Remember our new tradition of night walks?   We decided to go for one towards the beach through the forest.

This sign was about half way.

We arrived at the beach in complete darkness.  There were lots of blue lights flickering on the beach, but we were not surprised.  We had a blue light of our own too, and had the same idea as all of the other people that came out of the woodwork in the dark (literally). All of us were looking for Upperlites.

What are Yooperlites you ask?  Well, firstly Yooperlites are named after the UP which is pronounced “yoop” and not “up”.   In the daylight they look like plain grey pebbles like these ones,

but once you shine a UV light on them they glow as they contain fluorescent sodalite.  A gem dealer discovered them and is making a small fortune out of them.  Take a look at some of the amazing photos and some more info here.

Our UV flashlights were not powerful enough, or perhaps all of the yooperlites were already picked, but a lovely, generous woman gave us one when she heard that we hadn’t found any.

Here it is!   Not the best specimen, but it’s all we’ve got.

It was a good walk and we had a good restful night and we woke up with the sun.

We are now ready to tackle the Mouth of the Two-Hearted River State Forest access roads.

44 thoughts on “UP – Things that glow in the dark”

  3. peggy says:
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    My, what an interesting trip. I am sure you enjoyed the sunsets, beach, waterfalls and collecting rocks. Can’t have mishaps with 7777 – have to watch 6666.

  4. Ab says:
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    That was very entrepreneurial of the gem dealer to take advantage of the Yooperlites. How cool!

    Looks like a super fun outing. Love the Pickel barrel home. 🙂 And the falls look indeed worth the 168 step journey!

  8. petespringerauthor says:
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    I wanted to get a closer look at Tony’s rock-scooper contraption, but for some reason that photo can’t be enlarged. The water is so crystal clear. Signs that tell us how many steps are quite helpful, but knowing me, I’d verify by counting them on the way down. (Like, for what purpose? What would I do if there are only 167 steps? Maybe I’d have to count them again on the way up to verify?)🤣

  11. walkingoffthechessboard says:
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    Yooperlites are very cool! Very nice of that woman to give you one. The 168 step sign is just too funny…definitely trying to make a point with that one. The sunset in the park is a very beautiful late fall shot. Enjoyed following along!

  17. WanderingCanadians says:
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    I’m glad you returned to the Upper Peninsula as the scenery along Lake Superior looks beautiful. How adorable is that Pickle Barrel House!? I’ve never heard of a yooperlite before. They are so cool. That’s very kind of that woman to give you one.

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