Kitch-iti-Kipi Freezes Over For The First Time
Do you have a favorite place in the Upper Peninsula you like to visit?
One place on my bucket list is Kitch-iti-Kipi! It's Michigan's largest freshwater spring and it's absolutely breathtaking. The spring is 200 feet across, 40 feet deep and filled with 10,000 gallons of water. Kitch-iti-Kipi sits at a constant temperature of 45 degrees and for the first time witnessed, froze over this past week.
Paul Walker, VP of the Schoolcraft County Historical Society told MLive that this is the first time he's ever seen the the spring freeze.
It’s very rare you’ll even see ice on it because it stays a constant temperature of 45 degrees. Even when it’s 10 below outside, the spring just continues to bubble away.
Dennis Green, current Michigan Department of Natural Resources supervisor at Indian Lake and Palms Book state park says that this usually happens during spring or winter. The snow surrounding areas of the spring, like cedar swamp, will melt and run into the spring, causing it to freeze.
The legend of Kitch-iti-Kipi is about a young chieftain who lost his life trying to prove his love to his girlfriend. Legend has it, he told a maiden he loved her and she asked him to prove it by setting sail in his canoe in the conifer swamp and catching her. When he attempted to catch her, his canoe overturned and he drowned in the icy waters. The Spring was named in memory of him.
Despite visitors not being allowed to swim in the springs waters, Kitch-iti-Kipi attracts nearly 100,000 visitors a year.