The frigid temperatures today reminded me of the day I hike out on the frozen Lake Superior to view the ice caves. I knew there was very cold wind chills over the lake when my camera lens would fog up whenever I went inside an icy cave and I used hand warmers to kept my camera batteries warm enough to work.
Icy Cave
I have hiked to see ice formations and in my much younger days, it was a treat when a new smooth layer of ice formed on the creek for ice skating adventures. But in my older years, my car and I do not like that smooth ice that causes too much slipping and sliding. The frozen tower of ice was hollow inside as you hear the water running inside before flowing out on top of the ice.
Tower of Ice
The rain yesterday created a lot of ice once the temperatures plummeted again. My driveway is rather slippery and even inside the garage, where the rain dripped off my car, has some icy patches on the floor. An icy floor is fine for the ice caves but not where I need to walk or drive.
Icy Cave Floor
Autumn has quickly disappeared, even if the calendar says it is fall yet, as my pond has a complete layer of ice covering the surface already. Although the ice isn’t thick enough to walk on yet, winter is getting a grip. With a large lake, like Lake Superior, it takes winter months to get a solid hold of its water and some years the lake wins over winter and you can’t walk out on it like these people did.
Walking on Stiff Water
Winter was trying to take a nibble out of autumn with a few snowflakes in the sky as the temperature dropped to freezing this morning.
Bite of Winter
It sure felt like old man winter was blowing some very cold air around today and there was no hint of spring whatsoever especially if a record low temperature might be set tonight.
Blowing Cold Air
Most of my icicles fell off my roof in the sunshine today, but none of them looked as interesting as these found along the shores of Lake Superior.
Interesting Icicles
This morning a number of birds were hanging on the icicles on my roof line catching the dripping water off the ends. I suppose that even those the icicles were slippery, it would have been easier getting water that way than trying eat snow coated with an ice layer. These icicles are a lot larger than the ones hanging outside my windows.
Hanging Around Icicles
The morning started out rather chilling with the sub-zero temperature, even without being near the ice caves. Ice is being to form again near the caves, after the wind blew away the ice layer that had been created, but it is still not stable enough for people walk across yet.
Icy Cliffs
At the end of the icy tunnel, you could look out to see other people walking on the ice. This year, the ice caves have not been open because the ice isn’t safe, especially since last week the wind blew all the ice away and it is open water where these hikers were standing in past years.
Peering Out an Icy Tunnel
