Munising Ice Climbing

It's one of those days, where we've had a string of arctic weather, and it's putting me in the mood of getting reeaally sick and tired of winter. This tells me I'm not getting out and enjoying all the cool things that winter brings, which very much is the case. I've been spending hours daily in front of a computer monitor, feeling like I'm going crosseyed. Lots of jury deadlines coming up with art shows and the planning out of the future year. A few unique editorial projects that came up have been really demanding of time as well, relegating me relentlessly to the basement dungeon to sit in front of the computer some more and "get 'er done". So today's photos are from the archives,from a trip out the the ice curtains of Munising on Sand Point Rd. No ice climbers were out that day,and the ice looked untouched by the hacking of pics and cleats, so it allowed me to get some really nice ice detail shots.

I've been out to the ice curtains before to photograph the climbers, as well as some of the frozen waterfalls in Pictured Rocks,(click here for photos of ice climbing in the Upper Peninsula) and it really is beautiful when the ice has built up and you see a very intense aqua ice blue color. This is due to varying thicknesses in the ice not letting certain light waves thru, a pretty cool natural phenomenon. I'm really hoping this year that the Grand Island channel freezes solid enough to allow safe passage by ski or snowshoe, and the ice curtains on Grand Island hold as they are some of the most magnificent curtains in the area. From the looks of things, we aren't going to have to worry about any thawing in the near term.

Shadows and Hilights

Lake Superior, near sundown, in a steel grey, ominous, almost colorless mood

These are two pics, first taken the day before the storm and second pic during the storm yesterday. Winds and waves didn't seem to be near what was forecast,probably because the lake is ready to really freeze. It's brutal cold now. What's left of open water on Lake Superior is looking real syrupy now, being in an almost supercooled state.


Presque Isle, with the bay diffused by blowing snow, taken with a 15mm

Ice Volcanos

The time is now for "ice volcanos" to form along the shoreline.
"ice volcano", Lake Superior

When the wind and temps are just right to cause the surf to splash up on the ice banks, the water from the surf keeps freezing, and the ice sometimes forms a hole that the water keeeps shooting through every time a wave hits the shoreline. These ice volcanos don't last long, as the ice keeps forming further and further out under these conditions, or it warms up and they get smashed to shreds. Pretty cool.

Oh, and Happy Birthday MOM!

"oh what a beautiful morning"

Not this morning, but yesterday!

Sunrise, Marquette Upper Harbor, near the mouth of the Dead River.
After having it snow for 20 some odd days straight(which means LOTS of cloudy skies), the sunrise yesterday was a most pleasant change of pace. In this picture you can see how the frost builds up on the plants from the outflow of the power plant nearby, and boy was it chilly, below zero again this morning.

Wind n Waves

One thing I never get tired of in the winter is the sights of lake effect squalls moving across Lake Superior.

Shore ice is really starting to build now, so as long as it stays cold, the ice mountains are really going to pile up on the shore line. We'll have to wait until a big thaw to see waves like this:

Presque Isle, Marquette MI shoreline, "black rocks"