Chad Johnson was recently playing tour guide with family at one of my favorites spots, Hunter’s Point in Copper Harbor. It’s a great area with an easy hike out to the park from either the Copper Harbor Marina or 3/10 of a mile west of the Marina on North Coast Shores Road to Harbor Coast Lane, the parking area is at the end. You can do some bird watching, snap beautiful photos (like Chad’s shots), check out the many rock formations (the basalt in the area is the oldest rock on earth- essentially, the earth’s crust, so it’s like a window to the past) or just simply enjoy the peacefulness on the shores of Lake Superior.

Chad’s outstanding photos give you a sampling of Hunter’s Point Park. Visit Keweenaw adds to that with a short aerial view video of the park. They mentioned that there’s something magical about Hunter’s Point...once you visit, you’ll see why. It keeps drawing you back time and again.

Pretty set, especially number one where it looks like the clouds
are radiating out from the island.
And is that a blue rock in number five or water?
Perhaps a geologist can chime in (hint-hint).

Absolutely breathtaking shots! I just love
the mixture of colors, easy on the eyes.
We've walked out there and loved it. We'll
definitely go back.

The basalt in that area is NOT the oldest rock on earth; not even close. There is even much older rock in other parts of the UP.

Capt. Paul...
I got the information about the rock in the Hunter's Point Park area from the Copper Harbor webpage here:
Copper Harbor - Hunter's Point

And from the Grant Township webpage here:
Grant Township - Hunter's Point

Both stated that: "The basalt in this area is the oldest rock on earth-essentially, the earth’s crust." If that's incorrect, I'm sorry, I was just going by what their information stated. I'm not sure where they got their information from. Maybe you could get in touch with them and enlighten them that their information is incorrect. Thanks...

No worries, Mary.
I'll have to view those pages when I'm not half asleep...

Just to clear things up from last night, now that I'm awake.

The basalt at Hunter's Point (which is actually a member of the Copper Harbor Conglomerate called the Lake Shore Traps) is in fact dated to approximately 1.1 billion years (Ga); very old indeed, but certainly not the oldest rock on earth, and in fact, not even the oldest rock in Michigan.

The oldest confirmed rock on earth is the Acasta Gneiss, located in the Northwest Territories of Canada, has been accurately dated to 4.03 Ga. This is nearly four times older than the Lake Shore Traps at Hunter’s Point. Another rock outcrop in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt on the eastern shores of Hudson Bay has been preliminarily dated to 4.28 Ga.

As far as Michigan, the oldest rock in the state is located in the Watersmeet Dome and has been dated to 3.56 Ga. Numerous other rock units in Michigan are also older than the Lake Shore Traps; these include the Compeau Creek Gneiss (2.8 Ga), the Deer Lake Peridotite, Kitchi, and Mona Formations (2.7 Ga), Kona Dolomite (2.3 Ga), and the Negaunee Iron Formation (1.85 Ga).

Hopefully this helps....

Hey Capt Paul,

Seems like it would be a good idea to contact the websites Mary quoted to let them know their statements aren't correct. Certainly they should accept the clarification from an expert and would be willing to modify their notes. Wonder where they got their misinformation in the first place!

Thanks, Mary, for always looking to include added information about a location! In this case it may benefit many beyond the scope of Pasty Cam if the websites are corrected!

So funny, Jbuck. I was just going to say
something along these lines. Mary does such
a great job of digging into these facts for
us. She goes above and beyond sometimes, I
think. Somebody should inform these sites
that their information is incorrect. Capt
Paul??

Thanks, Mary, for having such great
information for us.

Go get 'em Capt!

Mary rocks. Plain and simple.

Let's just say i'm REALLY hoping the websites didn't get their information from WIKI! LOL!

By jbuck (Jbuck) on Sunday, September 3, 2023 - 12:41 pm:
Hey Capt Paul,
Seems like it would be a good idea to contact the websites Mary quoted to let them know their statements aren't correct.

Already done! ;-)

That's great Capt. Paul! It will be interesting to see what their response is - tho won't expect them to be responding right away on the holiday weekend!

Y’all pay attention to Capt….he gots college.
Any ideas on what that blue thing is in the fifth pic?

For the life of me, I do not see a blue rock in the fifth photo, Alex. I see what might be a cloud reflection almost dead centre in the near pond, but that's about the best I can do...

To me it looks like a piece of shinny plastic and the sun is reflecting
off of it.
Maybe it’s water???
Does anyone else see it or am I seeing
things?

Alex, I think it's water.

Alex, i think Deb is right. It appears to be a pool of water trapped in the rocks.