Ice Caves near Apostle Islands

It all stated with an e-mail last weekend from UW-Waukesha Continuing Education, asking if anyone was interested in a day trip the next Sunday to the Ice Caves of Wisconsin should the park rangers determine that conditions are safe enough to open them.  The caves don't freeze over every year and it was not an opportunity we wanted to miss despite the long bus ride.

The photos, news videos, and information I reviewed before coming today didn't come close to the beauty and magnificence of Mother Nature.

Let's begin with the ice on Lake Superior.

Frozen waterfalls lined the sandstone cliffs where a combination of water dripping from the layers of the cliff combined with the waves of the sea forming incredible ice creations.  Some of the formations have a pink hue from the sandstone that was washed down the cliff sides with the water whereas others are blue (ice where bubbles do not interfere with the passage of light.

The clouds were also amazing.

What better place to paint...

A few other unique things:

Trip stats:  We left at 6:00 a.m. from UW-Waukesha, arrived at the caves around 2:00 p.m., left around 5:00 p.m. arriving back at UW-Waukesha around 12:40 a.m.  It was about 14 hours in the bus and three hours on the ice.  Temperatures were in the low 20s with a mild wind (which feels much colder in an open area like Lake Superior.  It was mostly cloudy on the way up but beautiful blue skies when we arrived with a few clouds moving in towards the end of our time on the ice.

We bought ICEtrekkers for our feet which were amazing for walking on ice especially with the assistance of our hiking poles..

Finally, the day wouldn't be complete without a little poetry.

Lake Superior, March 1, 2015

By Rebecca Klamert

The sun’s radiance peeks from behind wispy clouds,

taking a bite out of the Canadian wind

We travel over compacted snow,

polished by wind, and

marked by souls of many

Rolling ripples flow over smooth surfaces as

rough waves etch a path to shore

Clear glass, a window to the sand and rock below 

contrasts frosted panes providing shelter for fish

Minuscule soda straws surround cracks

that at times expand with a loud croak

Shelves of ice, all sizes and shapes,

form detailed mosaics,

enlarged molecules as viewed through a microscope, and

tiny veins branching out from a larger artery

Snow dust skims across, a water droplet in a hot pan,

performing a delicate dance

Along the shore chunks of ice mix with soft snow

Piles of broken shards crunch with the weight of my boots

Taps of hiking poles play a soft symphony, 

a xylophone marking their rhythm

The sun dips lower in the sky

and angel rays stream through the clouds

Mississippi River Trip–January 3, 2014 (Day 1)

Some times you just need to escape the rat race of life and find a place where you can remind yourself of who you are.

This morning we set out for a long weekend in my new Beetle TDI Convertible.  With the roads clear from the week’s storms and temps too low to snow forecasted, we wanted to see how well the Beetle can do on the open roads.  Per the car’s calculations, we are averaging about 38 mpgs.

The morning was quite cool.  At one point we saw –13* F on the car thermometer.  Our first stop was near Trempealeau, WI.   We walked over the first four bridges on McGilvray Seven Bridges Road which is part of the Van Loon Wildlife Refuge Truss Bridge Group.  The snow had been packed with enough footprints that we didn’t need our snow shoes and with the cold temperatures we had the trails to ourselves.

After that we headed to Pizza Corral in Trempealeau.  We ordered a pan cheese pizza that had a really good crust, a tangy sauce, and more cheese than you can imagine. 

From there we went to Winona and visited the Minnesota Marine Art Museum which was a surprisingly interesting art gallery.  It has a lot of artwork for being a fairly small art gallery with art from some big names (Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Cezzane, etc.) along with showcasing three current artists from different area states.  One of my favorites was a piece called Trempealau River Valley by Julie Crozier.  The movement of the rushing river, swaying grasses in the wind, slow moving clouds, etc. really drew my eyes to the piece.

Tonight we are staying at the TownePlace Suites Marriott in Rochester, MN and so before dinner with friends we checked into our deluxe room.  It has a full kitchen, living room with fireplace, bedroom with separate flat screen TV, and bathroom.  As I type this blog I sit in front of the fire sipping herbal tea.  Here are a few pictures:

We ended the evening with an enjoyable dinner with Diane and Dale, friends from our Twin Cities days.