The sun peeked out for a while this afternoon and with temperatures just above freezing, some people may have ventured out to check out the winter scenes, like frozen waterfalls and snow covered sandstone gorges, but I was tired of slipping on the ice so I didn’t spend any extra time outside.
Wintertime at Houghton Falls
In six months the snow will be gone (hopefully) and a summer view of green and blue will return instead the winter white landscape.
Cliff View of Lake Superior
Like many people, I am tired of winter, especially of the icy conditions, and wishing spring would arrive and the water would be flowing at not frozen. The Black River plunges 165 feet down a gorge of sandstone and basalt and is the highest waterfall in Wisconsin.
Big Manitou Falls
The unexpected rain in February polished the snow and ice to very slippery conditions, as even one of the farm cats was doing the dance jig as she slid down the hill about fifteen feet, but with four legs she manage to stay upright – barely. You expect to find ice on frozen lakes, but not on the driveway and walkways and it probably won’t melt before the snow next week hides it making even trickier to walk outside.
Walking on Superior Ice
The rain yesterday melted some snow and water was running in ditches and eventually flowed into creeks and rivers, but the below freezing temperature today is putting an ice layer back on the water.
Winter Water Flowing
The day was filled with red colors for Valentine’s Day as even Mother Nature provided a reddish sunrise. There is a saying “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning”, which can come true in the middle latitudes and when the storms generally move west to east. With sunlight reflecting off particles in the air, the red sky can indicate a high water content in the atmosphere so that rain cold be on its way. And it came true today as it started to rain a few hours after sunrise, which isn’t common in February, but maybe a good thing it was rain today otherwise it may have been a foot of snow instead.
Valentine’s Red Sky
I spent some time this afternoon scooping water away from the office door which was trapped by the snow banks and couldn’t drain away. But if I didn’t throw it far enough, the water would drain right back into my mini lake and it felt like a losing battle at times, like trying to empty the water out of the opening in the ice at Siskiwit Falls.
Siskiwit Falls in Wintertime
There was water pooling in areas from some snow melting today but with build up snow, the water couldn’t drain away from my driveway cement and will create a frozen patch of ice by morning. Water was running across the sheet of ice by the Lake Superior ice caves where water was seeping from the rock layers that created the icy waterfalls. Ice grippers on your shoes were helpful in crossing the smooth slick ice after the water refroze.
Pooling Icy Water
The temperature might have been 25 while I was feeding the steers, but the cold wind made my eyes watered. But Dolly didn’t see to notice the cold breeze as she is a Scottish Highland, which is a very hardy breed that is almost as cold tolerant as other artic animals like caribou and reindeer with its shaggy long hair on the outside and a downy undercoat.
Scottish Highland Cow
The winter day stayed below freezing today, but it still was 40 degrees warmer than nine years ago when I ventured out on to Lake Superior ice to visit the ice caves on a rather cold day.
Superior Ice Caves
