The surface ice along the shore of Lake Superior by the Meyers Beach was never stable this year to visit the ice caves, but there were other places to see ice formations, including inland areas like Devils Punchbowl near Menomonie. The 45-foot tall natural rock amphitheater and waterfall has nice ice formations and with a new staircase install last year, it is easier to made it down the cliff.
Devils Punchbowl
The forecast has freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning but I definitely don’t want to see anymore ice here. I rather have to visit the ice caves on the shore of Lake Superior to see icy tunnels and ice formations and not the slick ice on my driveway.
Icy Tunnel
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
When exploring the ice formations, it was interesting to see so many different colors of ice especially the light blue ice falls. Course I was a little blue when my garage door was frozen down in ice and it took me a while to get the door open this morning.
Blue Ice
If the forecast is accurate for the coming week, maybe today will be the last day where the high remains below freezing, although it will be still freezing overnight.
Another Chilly Day
With temperatures below zero again this evening, it feels more like January than March. Hopefully the forecast is right and next week will be warmer so then maybe the bite of winter will lessen.
Winter’s Bite
Although the temperature stayed below freezing, the sun was strong enough to cause some melting and some of the icicles grew in length before breaking off. The two foot icicles I saw today are tiny compared to the huge icicles by the ice caves on Lake Superior. If you look closely, you can spot a person dressed in black under the ice formations near the center of the photo so the icicles are a tad longer than two feet.
Large Icicles
There are a variety of caves, tunnels, frozen waterfalls and other ice formations along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. This large cave is called the Garage and it would easily accommodate a huge dump truck although I’m not sure the ice under would hold up to the truck’s weight. But it was fun exploring the large cave with its ice coated walls.
The Garage
The recent winter storm dropped 20 to 30 inches of snow along Wisconsin’s south shore of Lake Superior, but it also blew the ice around which created large cracks where the ice was forming. And with the poor ice conditions, it looks like there will be another year where visitors will not be able walk on the lake ice to visit the various ice formations and caves.
No Ice Cave Walk
Finding unique and interesting pieces of driftwood on a beach provides fun entertainment as I look for the sea monster in each piece. In the winter, spotting ice monsters is fun too, but it is a chilly and colder activity.
Ice Monster
