About

Who made it

I'm Steven. I live on Higgins Lake and I've spent my life picking things up off these beaches. Skip is the rock I drew for the brand, and everything here grew out of him: the field guides, the app, the spoon, the shirts my friends kept asking me to print.

The whole thing started after I adopted a 27-year-old cat. Yes, really. That's why ten percent of every order goes to northern Michigan animal shelters.

Spoons are built by hand here, posters and shirts print to order, and I ship each piece the day it is ready. If a spoon breaks, I replace it.

Home water

The cabin on Higgins, the yard, and the three who run the place.

sunset over Higgins Lake from the dock — HIGGINS LAKE

Lucy and Calvin sharing the window sill — LUCY AND CALVIN

Murphy, the old one — MURPHY, THE OLD ONE

Lucy watching the yard from the window — LUCY ON WATCH

Calvin wearing sunglasses in the window — CALVIN, A.K.A. MEGATRON

Lucy inspecting a locket full of small stones — QUALITY CONTROL

one of the cats holding down the couch — COUCH DUTY

the back yard at dusk with the lights on — LIGHTS ON

the blue doors on the side of the cabin — THE BLUE DOORS

Ten percent of every order goes to northern Michigan animal shelters. These three are the reason.

Skip's the name

The unofficial mascot of Great Lakes rockhounds.

If you walk the beach with your eyes down, he is for you. Skip started as a doodle of a rock with a face, and he turned into the part people recognize before they know my name. Everything on this site got built around him.

Every stone in the guide carries a rarity tier, bedrock to grail, the way trading cards do. A Petoskey stone is an uncommon. Isle Royale greenstone is a grail. Once it clicks that this is a Michigan beach turned into a card collection, you won't keep people off the shore.

The give-back

10% of every orderGoes to northern Michigan animal shelters: Roscoe Rescue and the Roscommon County Animal Shelter. For every $50 you spend, a rescue animal eats for about a week.

Give straight to themRoscoe Rescue and the Roscommon County Animal Shelter. If you'd rather skip the store and donate directly, the links are in the footer.

The app costs nothing, everThe Rock Journal has no account, no ads, and collects nothing. Your finds stay on your phone. It installs from the browser, no app store.

Collecting rules, printedThe posters carry the line I actually mean: protect our shores, take less than you love. I want these beaches worth walking in thirty years.

Who made it

Home water

Skip's the name

The give-back

Say hi