Kitch-Iti-Kipi

 6-14-2021 - Monday

Today we drove back into Manistique, then over to Palms Book State Park to see "the Big Spring" (kitch-iti-kipi).  This drive to Manistique is right beside Lake Michigan with lots of pull offs, very nice sandy beaches, clear water.  We pulled into a couple of them (no rocks).

We read about Kitch-iti-kipi in some of the brochures we have accumulated, and it seemed like something we should see.  And it was worth the drive (which wasn't that far, maybe 30 miles). 

This is a spring that is 45 feet deep and 200 feet across, Michigan's largest fresh-water spring.  It fills this lake with beautiful, clear water, is a constant 45 degrees.  There is a self-propelled observation raft that you ride over the spring on, where you can see the 16,000 gallons of water per minute "erupting" from the depths.  Large brown trout swim around, but no fishing is allowed.  

Joe, of course, took the stern to get us started, then turned the job over to the youngsters.  In the middle of the raft is a glass bottom so we can all see directly underneath the raft.  There were 60-70 people on our ride, but there was enough room to move around.

It was fun to watch the fish swimming around below us.  They were large.  

The raft moves along a cable, so we don't get off course.  And it actually is propelled by turning that wheel.  The people gather on the deck in the back of this picture for the next ride.  The CCCs constructed the original raft, deck, concession stand and ranger's quarters here.

We could see the spring spurting up water bubbles.  The fish must like the oxygen because there were several swimming around that area.

From there, we drove through another state park, Indian Lake State Park, the fourth largest inland lake in the UP.  It is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 8,400 acres.  We had hoped to be able to drive around the lake, or at least around the park, but it was basically a campground.  

Then we went back to Manistique, and I got to go to the casino for a little while.  I even won a little.  We got back to camp around 5:00, and Joe built another campfire when it got a little later.  And I roasted some marshmallows!

  Can't wait until dark to build a campfire because it stays daylight forever.  Even at 9:00 the sun hasn't set.  But we got ourselves ready to pull out in the morning, and tomorrow we leave the UP.  I hope lower Michigan is not too much warmer, because we are loving the weather up here.