In a remote, undisclosed location in Michigan's upper peninsula we bounced down this sandy road heading towards Lake Superior just before sunset. As we neared the beach we saw we were the only ones there, a bonus in our minds. We were going hunting for the mysterious "Yooperlite" rock discovered by Erik Rintamaki.
The mineral sodalite is present in some rocks and under longwave ultraviolet
(UV lights) illumination will fluoresce, creating the glowing yellowish orange veins of
Yooperlites as seen below...
We got out to stretch our legs and felt the winds blowing off the lake, they were light and pleasant. The air temps were in the lower 40's but next to the lake it felt much warmer. Lots of rocky beaches and miles to walk each direction, the only thing to do was wait until it got dark. Neil and I decided we would walk as far south as we could, then as we walked back we would picked up rocks we found. This way we weren't carrying rocks both directions, making it easier on us.
Watch the video above and see where in upper Michigan we visited on our way to Lake Superior!
Ok fine, we were in the Keweenaw above Houghton.. Now you know! However you should also know that you'll need a powerful UV flashlight if you want any chance of finding them. They are pretty cheap too and well worth the investment! Just don't use it during your next hotel visit or you may never go back.. ha ha
There is a vast difference in the Yooperlites we found, some were really bright and you could see them from 10 feet away while others weren't as bright and you needed to be closer to see. On this trip my buddy Neil had a more powerful light than I did and found many more than me. They came in all shapes and sizes and as I said, many different shades of brightness. I'm sure you might be wondering what they look inside? Like we should cut one in half?
Oh yes, a friend of mine cut them in half for a project that he was working on for me.. He designed and built a custom "I Love Upper Michigan" concrete table with Yooperlites in it! It was pretty long process to make this heart shaped table with 2 shades of color, then embedding yooperlites into it.
So needless to say after 5 trips over the last 3 months, I've gathered a nice collection of rocks that glow under UV lights! So many rocks that I've opened an Etsy Store hoping to sell these cool rocks to others who may not be able to come find them themselves.. Maybe you're hoping to have one of these neat glowing rocks for your collection? Or perhaps you'd like to get it as a gift for a rock collector friend..
Below are some that I've sold already and good examples of what you might find out there if you looked yourself..
Next year I'll be spending a lot of time along the shores of Lake Superior.. This is a fact!!
VISIT MY STORE BELOW:
