A set of Hoofers headed up to Lake Superior for some excellent pre-thaw adventure this past weekend. We gathered our gear and started our trek Saturday morning. That evening, we were going to head out on Lake Superior for the Book Across the Bay 10km snowshoe. BATB is an annual ski/snowshoe race/meander that starts in Ashland, WI and ends in Washburn. Though we planned to swing by our cabin on the way in and make our way to the bus shuttle in a rather leisurely manner, we ended up barely making the last shuttle and were literally the last people to start the course. (Alas, we had forgotten the Ps - Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.)
Luckily, once we were on the course, things went relatively smoothly. There was a storm system in the area that dumped snow both before and after the race, but during the race we really only had to deal with wind and occasional fog. The full moon provided some light, but the course was largely marked by some really pretty ice-luminaries. There were good-sized bonfires (yes, large fires on the iced-over surface of Lake Superior) every kilometer, and what the rests lacked in cocoa, they made up in oreos and animal crackers.
Superior has the best ice coverage (94% as of this weekend) in at least 20 years, and since the ice caves along the Apostle Island National Lakeshore were accessible for the first time in 5 years, we took advantage of the conditions on Sunday for another bit of exploration (with 11,000 of our closest friends). The ice caves are a huge draw for folks in the Midwest. Last year, the Apostle Islands had ~150,000 visitors over the course of the year. This month alone, the Apostles have had >50,000 people coming to see the ice caves (and that wasn't even counting this past weekend, which was expected to bring in another 15,000+ people).
The ice on Superior opened around January 15, and since then, a small army of rangers have been monitoring the ice, keeping an eye out for the visitors, and trying to manage parking near the shore. Local municipalities have started shuttles with nearly every vehicle they can find, and boy is it worth the trip. The southern shore of Superior has some amazing rock formations, and when the wind and waves conspire with frigid temperatures, the shore develops some spectacular jewelry.
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| A Hoofer trying to avoid wet feet |
There are a bunch of nooks, crannies, and tunnels that are just full of different ice formations. Tons of adults were having their fill of climbing, crawling, and sliding, but the kids were in hog heaven since 90% of the openings were just the right size for those under 13.
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| Ice Slide!! |
We found one overhanging rock draped in ice that had enough room for 4-6 adults in the chamber behind it, several small rooms that were glazed in the smoothest ice imaginable, a couple of low caverns covered in nubby icicles, and (my favorite) this cool little tunnel that connected two inlets - the far side had spiky icicles where baby icicles were growing sideways off the original piece.
The trip from the parking lot to the first of the ice caves is a mile long; the ice caves go on for something like 2-3 miles; and though we didn't have time to see the entire span, we still had a good long meander from our parking spot. There were a couple of guys who had even hiked out to one of the islands for some winter camping.
The conditions have been perfect this year, and if I'm ever in the area again when the ice caves open, it'll definitely be on my list of places to go for the year.
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| Heading into the overhanging-rock cave |
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| Behind the ice |
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| The alternate entrance |
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| Spiky & Fuzzy Icicles |
