The snow is shrinking down and melting a little with the recent few days above freezing but the landscape is still mostly white. And while some rivers and streams may continue to flow all winter, some are flowing under a layer of ice and you may only hear the small waterfalls until they poke out in the spring again.
Icy River
All good things must come to an end. The Lake Superior ice caves will close after Sunday or sooner if the ice condition deteriorate rapidly this week. Nature provided a spectacular show this cold winter and it may not return in the upcoming years since it was five years since the last time the ice was stable to walk on to see. But while the ice caves will return to sea caves as the ice melts, nature will create another glorious show as wildflowers will add color to the landscape once all the snow is melted.
The End of Nature’s Ice Show
After several days finally above freezing, winter seems determined to hang on as it will stay below freezing today. Even though spring is approaching, winter is gripping on tight.
Winter Hanging On
Since the weatherman mentioned snow and sleet in the forecast for today, that made me a little blue and so I thought I would post more of the blue ice. I wondered why the ice in that area was more compact than the surrounding area to make it look blue. Maybe it heard spring will arrive some day and it would disappear and be forgotten and the ice was sad too.
Blue Ice
Besides the ice caves on the shore of Lake Superior, there were frozen water falls to view which might just be a little a wet trickle in the summer but it creates a large frozen falls in the winter.
The ice also appears different colors, like the yellow or pink, which picks up sand grains from the sandstone. And then in certain spots you can find blue ice, which is caused by how light is absorbed in the snow and ice and the difference in wavelength from the red spectrum to the blue. Water and ice behaves like a blue filter, which absorbs the reds and orange, and why deeper water appears blue.
Snow is composed of a bunch of ice grains with air in between them and almost all of the visible light striking the snow is reflected back and appears white. But in ice, there is less air and so fewer opportunities for light to scatter back out and light travels farther into the ice and gives the ice more time to absorb the red light so when the light returns to the surface, it is lacking red light, making it appear blue.
Colorful Ice
I will admit that I am prejudiced. And since it is the Lenten season and one is supposed to change bad habits. But I don’t think I will get over my prejudice too easily. I have seen this church in the summer and the church shines whiter next to green grass compared to the white snow and after this long winter, my prejudice against snow might not be easy to overcome.
The cold winter did bring a large crowd to this small village of Cornucopia on the south shore of Lake Superior as visitors flocked to view the ice caves so some may have seen this church, established in 1909, with an enclosed bell tower and a small onion dome. The founders of St. Mary Orthodox Church were Eastern European immigrants who settled in Northern Wisconsin because of the good farming conditions and employment in the logging industry.
And for all those who have been praying for more snow, stop it! It is time to let spring to come!
St. Mary Orthodox Church
Heck, if I could find the grass, I just might be tempted to park on it or at least park my butt on some nice green grass but no chance of that happening for a while.
Missing Grass
This dead tree is hanging on somehow without going over the edge of the steep cliff and dropping into Lake Superior. Just like this winter is hanging on and on and on. Time for the forces of nature to turn and let spring come and someday this tree will become driftwood on some beach.
Hanging On!
In this cave, you don’t have to worry about icicles falling down on your head, but you might want to watch out for falling slabs of rock instead. Plus you have to remember that you are walking on ice which you hear cracking and you wonder if you will drop into Lake Superior. Even though it was a three mile hike and you listened to the creaking and moaning of the ice under your feet, it was a grand area to explore the depths and height of this cave with walls coated with different types of ice including crystal clear and a ceiling of red colored sandstone which took on a golden glow as the sun set.
Red Golden Cave
On the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Facebook page, they made this comment about the ice caves. “As the weather warms up, the walk to the ice caves will be more pleasant – but that also means that icicles will start melting and falling and there will be more slush on the ice – make sure not to stand under ice formations and wear waterproof boots – with ice cleats!”
And standing under or near one of the icicles could be very hazardous to one’s health, as some like this one, are an average of three and half to four feet in diameter and even larger at the base. Even this one has a section which is close to six feet across so it would have a bit of an impact if it hit you. It appears it make a bit of an impact on the ice surface and created a crack in the ice.
Fallen ‘Little’ Icicle
