Kitch-iti-Kipi Springs (Big Spring)

Only 30 minutes away from Fayette is Kitch-iti-Kipi Springs (Big Spring).  This is a childhood memory for me and I was happy to show it to Les.  This is also a State park.  The stats:  The spring is 200 feet across, 40 feet deep and 10,000 gallons of water a minute gush from the underwater springs, the water is a constant temperature of 45 degrees.  After 40 years the Springs observation raft has gone high tech.  It has a shade cover.  However is still moved from shore to shore by volunteer kid power.  The water is clear to the 40 foot depth, making it easy to see the planted trout (The left pectoral fin is clipped identifying them as farm fish {fish insight of the day}).  The real show is the constantly erupting springs.  The floor is limestone sand that plumes and settles back were it started from.     

These shots are from the surface 40 feet to the bottom of the Spring.  It totally looks like another world.  If you are ever in the U.P.  Don't miss this amazing quick stop.

 I place a short video on the blog but turn off your volume as we had loud folks on our raft ride.  The spring is still as cool as I remember it.  Les loved it too.

21 JULY 2011