Grand Island Ice Curtain by Craig Sterken Photography
Craig shared this archive photo of an ice cave on Grand Island on Lake Superior. Follow him on Facebook for the latest and view & purchase his work on his website.
Emerald Ice Cave
Ice Cave Season on the Sleeping Bear Lakeshore
Empire Ice Caves by Robin Lane
Robin shared these otherworldly shots of the ice caves on Empire Beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore earlier this week. Click the pics to see them bigger & follow her on Instagram for more!
As with any time we share photos of ice caves, we need to caution you that you can 100% lose your life exploring ice caves. Be smart.
It can be dangerous because you might think you’re walking on solid ground, when actually you’re out over the water. Due to the layered nature of shelf ice, even if you’re out over four feet of water, if you were to fall through a thin spot in the ice, you could find yourself trapped in an ice cavern and even though you may not be fully submerged in the water, you’re unable to get out because the walls of the cavern are ice and impossible to climb.
Ice Cave Sunrise
Grand Island Ice Cave Sunrise by Michigan Nut Photography
Incredible shot from inside an ice cave on Lake Superior’s Grand Island taken last weekend. You can check out another on John’s Facebook page and view & purchase his work at michigannutphotography.com.
More photos & information at the Grand Island tag on Michigan in Pictures!
Ice Cave Memories
Ice Cave Sunset by Mark Miller
Today a photo from back in 2014 of the massive ice coverage along the coast of the Leelanau Peninsula showed up in my memories. While we’ve got nothing like that this year, I figured it would still be nice to take a look back.
You can see some more shots in Mark’s Leelanau’s Ice Caves of 2014 gallery on Flickr.
Get more on Leelanau’s ice caves from Leelanau.com & please remember, walking on the ice on Lake Michigan (or any lake) in the winter is never “safe” so please miss me with your complaints.
Firing up the Polar Vortex Ice Cave Hype Machine
Ice Cave Evening by Mark Miller
via leelanau.com who write:
It’s a frosty 3 degrees in Leland with winds whipping powdery snow around and more single digits & high winds driving wind chills far below zero coming over the next couple of days. That’s not optimal for driving, and schools across the county are cancelled. It could, however, bring to life ice formations & caves on Leelanau’s western shore like we’ve seen several times in recent years.
They’ve got past ice cave articles and will be posting updates right here! The Freep reports that Michigan is bracing for potentially record-breaking cold this week:
A polar vortex is forecast to batter the Great Lakes and Midwest regions Tuesday through Thursday, with the lowest temperatures set to occur Wednesday. Some areas of Lower Michigan could face wind chills as low as 45 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service.
That would mark the most bitter cold in years for the region.
…The polar vortex is the large area of cold air and low pressure near each of the Earth’s poles. The air flows counter-clockwise near each of the poles, hence “vortex.”
“Many times during winter in the northern hemisphere, the polar vortex will expand, sending cold air southward with the jet stream,” the NWS explains.
Mark took this back in Mark of 2014. View the photo bigger and see more awesome shots in his Northern Michigan winters photo album.
Wearing o the Green (ice)
Icicles in cave – Grand Island Ice Curtains on Lake Superior, photo by Craig
Craig writes:
A little emerald green for St. Patrick’s Day!
Viewing this ice curtain from the inside at Grand Island near Munising Michigan, highlights the blue and teal hues that nature provides.
View the photo bigger and see more in Craig’s Grand Island Ice Curtains set.
Words escape me: Grand Island Ice Caves, 2015
Words escape me, photo by Lake Superior Photo
Words escape ME on the beauty of the video that Shawn of Lake Superior Photo shared. The ice caves on Grand Island near Munising didn’t happen this year, a very unfortunate thing for everyone in Michigan who makes their livelihood from winter recreation. However, thanks to the magic of the video below, we can travel back to 2015.
You can view Shawn’s photo from winter of 2015 bigger on Facebook and purchase the photo right here. I can’t stress enough that you should follow Shawn and Lake Superior Photo on Facebook. Please do it.
Now here’s that video. Be sure to turn your volume up and watch in HD – there’s a “boom” from the ice sheet at 4 seconds that’s incredible!
A year ago on Grand Island
unbelievable colors in the ice pillars, Grand Island, photo by Lake Superior Photo
On March 1st, Shawn shared this shot from last March on Grand Island. We’ve had nowhere near the ice buildup this year – a year can really make a difference.
Also, I’d like to congratulate her on having (as far as I know) the most popular Facebook page for a Michigan photographer – 201,000+ fans for Lake Superior Photo! If you’re not one of those, I urge you to change that right now.
View the photo bigger and view & purchase her photos at LakeSuperiorPhoto.com.
PS: Just in case you missed it, Michigan in Pictures has a good explanation of what gives ice difference colors.
Why is Ice Blue or Green?
The Blue Ice, photo by Charles Bonham
The Causes of Color answers the question: What causes the blue color that sometimes appears in snow and ice?
As with water, this color is caused by the absorption of both red and yellow light (leaving light at the blue end of the visible light spectrum). The absorption spectrum of ice is similar to that of water, except that hydrogen bonding causes all peaks to shift to lower energy – making the color greener. This effect is augmented by scattering within snow, which causes the light to travel an indirect path, providing more opportunity for absorption. From the surface, snow and ice present a uniformly white face. This is because almost all of the visible light striking the snow or ice surface is reflected back, without any preference for a single color within the visible spectrum.
The situation is different for light that is not reflected, but penetrates or is transmitted into the snow. As this light travels into the snow or ice, the ice grains scatter a large amount of light. If the light is to travel over any distance it must survive many such scattering events. In other words, it must keep scattering and not be absorbed. We usually see the light coming back from the near surface layers (less than 1 cm) after it has been scattered or bounced off other snow grains only a few times, and it still appears white.
In simplest of terms, think of the ice or snow layer as a filter. If it is only a centimeter thick, all the light makes it through; if it is a meter thick, mostly blue light makes it through. This is similar to the way coffee often appears light when poured, but much darker when it is in a cup.
Click through for lots more about light & color!
Charles took this photo last March off Gills Pier on the Leelanau Peninsula when there was a whole lot more ice than there is this winter. View it background bigilicious and see more in his Leelanau Peninsula slideshow.
More winter wallpaper and more amazing ice on Michigan in Pictures.
The Soul of the Yoop
Soul of the Yoop, photo by Cory Genovese
While our Great Lakes shoreline still holds some cool formations this winter, unlike the last two years this winter hasn’t had the very cold days coupled with high winds that combine to form truly spectacular ice caves. Thankfully, we can look back … and hope for a wintry turn in the weather!
Cory took this photo of one of his favorite little Lake Superior ice caves in a spring thaw in April of 2014. View the photo bigger, see more in his Yoop Life slideshow, and definitely follow him on Facebook at PhotoYoop for more great shots of life on the edge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!
More ice caves on Michigan in Pictures, and please consider becoming a patron of Michigan in Pictures.
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