What A Rock! Michigan Man Lugs 93 Pound Petoskey Stone Off Beach

The Petoskey stone is beloved here in Michigan. It has been our state stone since 1965, and has an interesting origin as that it’s actually fossilized rugose coral scientists say is from about 350 million years ago (the Devonian Age, for you fellow nerds out there).

They say three times is a charm, and it was for rock hunter Tim O’Brien from Copemish to dig it out. But digging it out turned out to be only the beginning. An arduous 114 steps then had to be taken to get it into his pickup truck.

Here’s how it went down. About a week ago while rock hunting, O’Brien first spotted the stone in Lake Michigan near Northport. He said the stone, half-buried in sand underwater several feet out in the lake, was too difficult to dig out by hand.

He then came back another day with his girlfriend, but the waves made it so he couldn’t locate it.

Then on Tuesday of this week he went back for a third time with a trowel and managed to dislodge the large stone.

“I’ve seen bigger ones, but this is about as big as you can carry,” O’Brien said.

He said he’ll likely put it in his yard. “It’s just kind of a conversation piece.”

Can’t tell what kind of truck it is from the photo, but considering the long-running “Like A Rock” ad campaign from Chevy, that would have only been appropriate.