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.

Skip's the name

The unofficial mascot of Great Lakes rockhounds.

If you walk the beach with your eyes down, he is for you. The name works three ways: skipping a stone across the lake, Skip the rock mascot, and the part I care about most. Skip the rock like you're a kid again. Or skip the rock, and leave it for the next rockhound.

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

Skip's the name

The give-back

Say hi