Old Man Winter might be losing his grip as only patches of snow remain, but I’m sure he will try to take a few more bites before spring arrives.
Old Man Winter
The sun set last night on the Lake Superior ice cave season as they closed last evening after only ten days due to the warming temperatures and predicted winds which will make the ice pack unstable. And while it might have been a short season for the ice caves, it has been a long winter so I don’t mind the warm up.
Sun Setting on the Season
Yesterday there were over 11,300 people at the ice caves near Cornucopia on the Lake Superior shore and probably more visitors coming today. That is way too crowded for me so smaller out of the way places would be more fun for me so it is quiet enough to hear the water trickling down the frozen slope.
Quiet Stream Leaving Devil’s Punchbowl
Even with another night in the minus teens, the weathermen are finally predicting some warmer temperatures and tomorrow the freezing mark will feel warm. And maybe some of the small little streams, like in Houghton Falls State Natural Area, will start flowing again as winter gives up its winter grip.
Holding Frozen at Houghton
The below normal February temperatures this year is allowing some ice formation by the sea caves again, for the third time this year. And if the winds don’t blow the ice pack away from the cliffs, the caves might open in a week or two for visitors again but at the moment there are too many thin spots to walk safely on the ice like last year.
A Walk on the Ice
Yesterday the ice broke up and quickly disappeared by the ice caves on Lake Superior near Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Last month people were still visiting the ice caves, walking on the frozen surface of Lake Superior and two months I had brave the cold weather to visit them too. I am glad I wasn’t on the ice when it broke up as the creaking and cracking was spooky enough when I taking pictures.
Click here to view the ice break from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. (Click on the Next button to cycle through the ice break up pictures.) The webcam shot is looking out the opposite direction as the image below, so the cliff in the back on the left, is the same cliff on the right in the image below looking towards the webcam.
Frozen World