Thursday, February 20, 2014

Ice Caves - Apostle Islands - Cornucopia, WI

Have you heard of the ice caves?  On the shoreline of Lake Superior, near the tiny town of Cornucopia, Wisconsin, link here:  http://cornucopiawisconsin.net/ is where we and thousands of others saw these neat caves.  This is the only positive to the polar vortex that we have endured here in Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful day - almost 40 - the sun was shining - just perfect!  

It was quite the hike - we walked over 7 miles.  Just from where we had to park the truck to the shore was over 1 mile.  When I said thousands, I wasn't kidding...






As we walked in this line out to the caves, I thought of the March of the Penguin movie, that is what we all looked like.  

The caves were about 1.5 miles out.  The shoreline goes for miles.  Al and I kept saying, we will stop at the next point...but, it was so pretty and interesting, that we just kept going.  The farther you walked the less amount of people followed.  We kept going because we drove 4 hours to get up there and wanted to make sure we saw all that we could see.  We actually were on the ice for over 4 hours...it was nice walking out, but man...it was hard to walk all the way back!  I hate to admit, but the driving force for my making it back to the truck was that I knew we had some chocolate chip cookies Anna made waiting for us...I know, I'm like one of those Pavlov dogs!  

Should you have the chance to go, I would suggest wearing layers, bringing a walking stick (I used cross-country ski poles), taking a snack and water.  Oh ya....use the porta potty before you get on the ice - there is no where to go out there.  When we left, there was an ambulance coming down the road.  I did see some stupid kids climbing way up...stupid people hanging on the ice...and really old people trying to walk all that way...I don't know which of those it was...but, be careful and use your head.  

Here are just a few of the pictures, we took A LOT!!!  I am planning to enter a few at the county fair.  One of my southern followers asked if it was cold - no, I was actually sweating.  Now, it is Wisconsin - but, 40 degrees in the sun brings out the t-shirts and shorts here...literally...by the time we got to the caves, many people had their coats off.  








These boys were small enough to fit through this hole...I wasn't...so I took their picture.  




However, I did fit in these....the view from the inside was amazing...








I tried to get different shots - showing other perspectives...



I really wanted to take my picture like this one...



but, Al was too nervous he said "all I can think of is one of those scenes out of a Final Destination movie."  When we heard the sirens of the ambulance the first thing he said was.."I hope that wasn't someone squished under an ice chunk..."  I never think of safety, must be his military police science background...






Now we have plans to go back in the summer with our canoe.  It would be neat to see these caves that way too.

Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.

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9 comments:

  1. i saw it on the news. how neat you got to see it in person!

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  2. I've been watching this on the news and wish we were closer. Nice job!!!

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  3. How beautiful! Some friends of ours were just showing us pictures of their visit to the caves. There's so much beauty right out our back doors:)

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  4. Wow... Awesome.. Beautiful... Love them.. xo

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  5. Looks like it was a great trip. I hope I can make it out there before the thaw....

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  6. Hi Jacky! What beautiful pictures! Amazing! Glad ya'll got to go there! Without incidence! Have a great weekend! Blessings from Bama!

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  7. These shots are just amazing!! I don't think I could have stopped walking and looking either! It reminds me of the insides of caves we have walked through. Oh by the way, love the Green Bay Packer coat! Wish we lived closer to see them in person, but thanks so much for sharing!
    Liz

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  8. What beautiful photos, well worth the walk! Thank you for sharing your post on the HomeAcre Hop, hope to see you again tomorrow! - Nancy
    The Home Acre Hop

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  9. So So pretty!!! Can't wait to see what you enter in the fair:)

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