Ice Cave Craze

Even though this is my first winter in the great white north, I've been hearing from locals how unusual this winter has been. Between the record amount of snow, polar vortex and high winds a rather rare phenomenon has taken place here: the creation of the ice caves.

I first noticed them through the Facebook page Ken Scott Photography. Ken Scott is a local photographer that does some awesome work, and his photographs of the ice caves are no exception. Before I knew it I was watching a short video made by the local news station, then reading it on a national news website. Needless to say, I had to check these things out for myself.

Bryan and I first tried heading to beach north of Gills Pier Road, but when we got there we knew immediately that it was a no-go. This was the area that was featured on the news. It seemed like everyone had the same idea that we did. So we decided to try a different location. It turned out to be a good decision. Here are some photos from Sunday, February 16:

The first ice cave we saw. A gentleman on the ice was kind enough to direct us towards this area. He told us there were some awesome caves in "that direction." He was right!

Bryan in the cave shown above.

Here I am in a second cave. The icicles looked like stalactites. I would have loved to go farther into the cave, but didn't have good enough traction on my boots--it was pure ice and quite slick!

Tiny Cave

He-Man

Ice was everywhere...here's a small, clear piece.

Here's Bryan standing next to some of the ice formations. He's about 6'2" (to help you use him as a reference point :) )

Ice Wave

Taking a break...

They were small, but mighty for sure! They were awesome to see and I'm glad we chose to not give up after Gills Pier Road.

Despite the fantastic adventure on Sunday night, Gills Pier Road was calling my name when I woke up the next morning. I decided to bundle up and head over there to see if I could get a decent parking spot. I drove up M-22 and reached Gills Pier Road...no line-up of cars like the night before, so I turned left and took my chances. About a mile from the beach I reached the line of cars that were parked along the narrow road. There was no turning around so I pressed forward, thinking that I'd just get out of there because it looked so crowded. To my surprise I found a parking spot extremely close to the beach. I took this as a sign, parked and headed towards the beach. They didn't disappoint.
           

The first view: Someone standing on top of an ice cave with arms stretched out.

To get to the ice caves, which were of course facing toward the lake and not shore, you had to climb over two ice "waves." Here's a photo after I climbed over the first.

Here's a photo looking back to shore. I was probably close to a 1/3 mile out. (Sorry for the poor shot...it didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, but I think you get the idea :).)

Finally over the second "wave!" It took me a while to find a place to climb (and I literally mean "climb") over. The height of these ice formations was amazing, as you can probably tell by looking at the people standing next to them. A big thank you to all those who went out there and created the paths over the "ice waves"... You made my life SOO much easier!

Here I am under the first ice cave I came to. Don't worry, I checked this cave as best I could before going under it...those cracks weren't quite as deep as they looked. I made sure to stand to the side, then get out as soon as the photo was taken (just in case :) ). A big thanks to the person who offered to take this for me!

A second cave with a hole in the ceiling. I wish I would have been standing for this. I feel like I make the cave look much smaller than it is because I'm sitting.

As I was leaving I noticed that there seemed to be a lot more people on the ice, so I turned to take a photo.

Because of the sky conditions (everything is practically the same color!) I felt that my photos didn't turn out quite so well on this day, but the experience is one that I would trade.

I've never really been a winter person, but with stuff like this going on it's hard not to want to go out and just live the experiences offered. Hopefully these few photos (of many taken) offer an insight to how spectacular these caves were. It's definitely something I'll never forget.

Happy Thursday!

Ridi...err...Walking into the sunset :)