Land of Ice and Snow

The view across the lake on our way to the caves

Several weekends ago Erin P and I went on an adventure to the Ice Caves on Lake Superior. We left Duluth before noon and made the hour and a half drive to the Caves, 17 miles outside of Bayfield, WI. It was packed. We had to park on the road and it was about a mile walk to the first caves. The wind had a bit of a bite and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, but we were fine in our coats and snow pants. After a brisk three quarter mile walk across the lake, we arrived at the first of the caves. While they started small, we were soon exploring vast ice caverns. We took as many pictures as we could until our phones started dying from the cold.

This is the first year in five that the ice caves have been accessible. The combination of early winter and the unseasonably cold temperature made for thick ice and fantastic caves. We were far from the only ones there. In fact, I heard later that there were a couple thousand visitors that weekend. the farther we traveled along the coast, however, the smaller the crowds were. I was slightly sad when we had to turn around to trek back to the road because the caves seemed to go on forever and each one was more exciting than the last. Below are some of the pictures I took.

Some of the first ice formations we saw. At this point, there were no actual caves to be seen, but these formations were well worth the freezing hand required to take the picture.

While I wanted a clear view of the ice and the seemingly endless lake, I did not want to attempt to stop the flow of visitors across the shoreline.

Another great ice formation. This one was around eight feet tall.

The frozen branches in this picture caught my eye and seemed worthy of a picture.

In one small cave, I looked up and thought this view of the stalactites (and yes, I looked up the difference between "stalactite" and "stalagmite") would be blog worthy.

Still a cool picture, but a reminder of the thousands of visitors the caves have seen. Almost all of the ice in this picture had bee broken off.

This cave was a squeeze to get into, but well worth the efforts. The textured ice looked like something from another world.

The ice seemingly grows out of the rocks that create the shore. Going in the winter makes me want to come back in a kayak and explore them in the summer!

"Big things have small beginnings" (Lawrence of Arabia).  While this quotation originally probably wasn't referring to Ice Caves, it was certainly true in this case. From a small, probably two and a half foot hole, came a large cave filled with textured ice.

A second stalactite picture, this one was a little closer and turned out better, I think.

Shredding Pow

Last Sunday, I drove out to Big Sky, Montana with Alex J and his family. We met my family and some friends at the condo we had rented for the week. We bought ski passes for the next five days and hit the slopes. No matter how long and monotonous the 16 hour drive can get, the mountains are always worth it. I have been skiing at Big Sky resort since I was six or seven. The snow and terrain

The view from the top of Big Sky

there put anything the Midwest can offer to shame (besides, perhaps, Mount Bohemia.) Alex and I have similar experience skiing so we enjoy skiing together when we come out here. If the skiing isn't enough to get you to make the drive, the views will. From the top of Lone Peak, the main mountain at Big Sky, you can see for miles in all directions. The mountain ranges and endless forests are enough to take your breath away, if the elevation or wind hasn't already. 
Big Sky was already a huge ski resort, but last summer they bought two ski resorts next to it, Spanish Peaks and Moonlight Basin, and

Another view of the surrounding mountains

became the largest continuous ski area in the US. Alex and I took full advantage of this and have spent the last three days exploring the new areas of Big Sky as well as visiting old, favorite ones. The weather has been windy, but fairly generous with new snow. Last night, for instance, we got around five inches of new powder. This new snow, coupled with the fact that almost all of the lifts were closed for several hours due to the wind, made for some excellent skiing conditions. Three consecutive days of hard skiing have made me sore and tired, but most importantly happy. And I still have two more to go! 

Lone Peak, as seen from the ridge