Crazy Lake Superior Agate

Funny how one unique find like that can capture all the attention.
Treasured beyond the whole 2 ton pile sitting in the back yard.

"Where there is one there is more"

From the viewpoint of a long time collector: Been a rockhound since I was about ten yeas old. When the wife and I were first married and did not have a lot of money, we used to go on "Rockabout" vacations. Armed with every Gem Trails book we could find and our old VW bus we'd hit as many rockhounding sites as we could do in the time allotted. We quickly became aware that, even fifty years ago, with a few exceptions, ie Lavic or the Cadys, most sites mentioned in the books were pretty depleted and really good material very hard to find. The best hunting areas were usually pretty much staked out and accessed by mainly local folks. That's even more true today. We had to make adjustments and go to four-bys, trail bikes, my AG connections, chancy desert treks etc to really get into good areas. I shudder to think of some of the desert trips I made all by my lonesome when I was young and stupid. Got the VW into a sandstorm one time in the Cadys and it was buried so deep it took me more than a day to dig out. Ran out of water etc....stupid stupid stupid!

Now days one has to make the hounding trips mainly for the fun, scenery, friendship and the hint of a treasure hunt. Then if you do find some dandy material, that's just a big ole bonus. Sadly, the advent of places like E-Bay that have led to commercial exploitation and exhaustion of many good collecting sites and the cost for food, gas etc these days, it is usually much cheaper to simply buy the higher quality materials you need for cabbing. Nothing beats the rush you will get when you make a great self collected find though.....Mel

That is a very interesting laker. Glad you cut it to see what surprises it had in store for you.

Awesome pictures. Looks like both of those trips were so much fun!!! I so wish I would have found my Love of Rocks when my children were young. I would have been a much funner (grammar error intentional) parent!! Thank you for sharing... when the grand babies get a little older I'll get a redo 😂

I have to agree with everyone else here. I go to Michigan's U.P. to hunt for Lakers every summer. It's a five hour drive to one place I go and seven to the other. After three days of hunting I come home with a handful of poor quality rocks. If I'm lucky, I'll find one or two decent Lakers. Minnesota is the place to go for Lakers, but you need to know someone with a gravel pit from what I've heard.

Some rocks make sense to find yourself if you live close enough to them. I have a pretty good spot to find Petoskey stones about ten minutes from home. I still spend 4-5 hours to find a few good ones and lots of mediocre ones. I can drive about five and a half hours to a huge pile of specular hematite and pick up all I want.

As difficult and expensive as it is to find rocks, it's my favorite part about this hobby. I hunt on beaches, so there's scenery and wildlife and fresh air. There's way more satisfaction in finding your own rocks, but it just isn't always practical.

Agate picking is a passion in northern MN. Very seldom are you the first one on any site that has known agates after a rain. Lake Superior agates are found from the Canadian border, western WI (alluvial diamonds have been found in WI)eastern and central MN. They are as far south as Topeka KS and west as far as Lincoln NE. I found more Lakers in a pit south of Lincoln one afternoon than I do sometimes up here on a weekend hunt. Some pits are better than others. 

Lakers bigger than a quarter are pretty rare and 1/2 pounders up extremly rare. If you're here for two weeks you might not find anything bigger than a half dollar. If you live here you might never find a 1 pounder your whole life. My neighbor brings them home pretty regular, I said in another post you have to  have your agate eyes on. There are 3 pits in Carlton County MN you can hunt in. All three are in some of the best agate areas in this part of the state. Farm fields and river in southern MN and WI seem to be good. Snorkeling in some of the rocky lakes and Lake superior can be productive. Lake Superior depending where you are is 40 degrees year round once you drop below a thin thermal layer. Wear a wet suit. Here is a link to the Carlton pits. the airport pit is about an hour south of duluth.

Edit: so I guess what i am trying to say you might end up with a handful or two by hunting beaches and or pits in an afternoon.


www.co.carlton.mn.us/agate_picking_permit

Ok you stating LINCOLN, NEBRASKA caught my total attention! I have family that live there. Lots of family! Do you remember anything about your visit there?

MrP...I know the Plaisteds from past work, might be able to get into their pits in Elk River, maybe pull in a favor. I also have another connection on the other side of St. Cloud who said I could come hunt their pits also.

MrP I work in gravel pits all over the states and copper theft is a pretty common occurance. I went to set up frac sand classifier a few years ago by Marshfield WI and was waiting for my operator to show and something didn't quite look right. All our cable had been cut and hauled away. 20 000 to replace and we did the work. I think the junk yards are just as guilty as the thieves. None of the old farms around here have any wiring left.