Ice Caves II.....

More from Monday on the ice at Lake Superior. The Mainland Ice caves, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was just a matter of walking along the shore, climbing into ice caves, composing the photos and pressing the shutter button. With so much natural beauty and interesting colors and shapes it was hard to go wrong.

 

Ice caves.....

The ice caves at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore were only officially open for 9 days this year.

 

The Park Service closed them to the public just after sunset on Monday and estimated more than 36,000 people had visited over those nine days.

 

 

I got there Monday at 1pm and the weather was perfect; sunny, blue sky, and forty degrees.

 

 

After a mile walk over the frozen surface of Lake Superior I reached the first of the ice caves.

 

 

The light was good, the ice formations and caves were impressive, and there were quite a few people out there.

 

 

I started working along the shore, crawling into various ice caves and searching for interesting compositions.

 

 

Due to the warm temperature there was several inches of water on top of the ice near the shoreline.

 

 

My boots and pants were soaking wet, but it was warm enough that it didn't really matter.

 

 

Everywhere I looked were beautiful views. Distinct ice formations, against a blue sky.

 

 

The orange of the sandstone cliffs contrasted beautifully with the white snow and blue sky.

 

 

The sound of dripping water from the melting ice and snow was constant as I continued making photos.

 

 

I had a smile on my face as I explored and shot and explored some more. I couldn't think of anywhere else I would have rather been.

 

 

I made more than 1000 images over the seven hours I was on the ice.

 

 

What a super day.