Extra Wonders

Nothing to say here.

And this is best enjoyed by clicking through to make it larger.  Those ice islands are brilliant on that steel blue water. From 1/24/12.

Iced Donuts

 See those little islands out there?  They are like these, only sparser. We had our first substantial snowfall of the winter, about 6 inches (and it's January 23rd!)

 When they get to shore, they pile up in these giant banks.

Bank + ice rounds. From 1/23/12.

Linked!

In the Daily Dish (or now, just The Dish) no less! So what if my guess was wrong--it WAS a Great Lake.

Back on track soon, with first ever Lakemichiblog photos of Lake Ontario!

Row, Row, Row Your Berg...

...gently down the Lake!
This is from Door County, Wisconsin.

Ice Floes

The ice/snow floats that had drifted out in the Lake were washed back in and looked like this. From Wednesday, 2/16/11.

Lithe Light

Somehow just enough light is sneaking through those clouds...
...to make the icy surface glorious.

Glowing

Radiating pink and purple off the icy patches. At dusk, Wednesday, 2/09/11.

How to choose?

So many pretty pictures, I just couldn't do it. Which is your favorite? From Saturday, 2/5/11.

Cliff Notes

Yesterday's "ice fields" have now been pushed into shore, where they have formed messy, sandy cliffs of ice.
Extending all along the shore.
And the remaining ice has drifted back out to sea...

No Lifeguard On Duty

Have you ever wondered how Lake Michigan would look after 2 feet of snow and 15 or so hours of huge winds/waves? Well, wonder no more dear readers!
It looks very similar to a plowed field after a heavy snow. Very bumpy and white. But with piles of snow on the periphery.

Here's a closer look. Click on it to see the larger and more impressive version. All of these were taken from the beach near my home, where we spent our day shoveling 6 foot drifts off our driveway and waiting for the power to come on (it did after 17 hours). The next few days, depending on wave action, should reveal some impressive piles of ice on the shore. Come back and see!

Threatening

We are expecting a huge snowstorm in the next 24-48 hours. We begin it with a coating of ice/snow on the lake's surface.
The rippling ice is a site to behold.
At noon, these ominous clouds were looming.
By late afternoon, the low clouds were threatening to burst open. But so far, only flurries. We shall see...

Early Icing

I can't believe we have visible ice already!
I went back to the last two years' December pics, and there's no visible ice. There was a film of ice in the morning that burned off later in the day on one post. But that was it. How can we have late leaves and early ice about a month apart? (This was taken at 1:30pm, btw. Plenty of time for the sun to burn it off, if it weren't so cold.)

That Which Drips

The literal translation of stalagmites. Amazing formations on a calm pre-spring day at the beach.

Far and Near

The cliffs are much eroded, but still lovely. From Wednesday.

Sparkly

Here are the cliffs with some sun brightening them. From Saturday, 2/13.

Caked on

Icy pile with waxy-looking drips. From Friday, 2/12.

Sign of the Season

One of my favorite signs. Not very many places where you could find a sign like this, I'm guessing.

Afternoon Island view

The ice cliffs have eroded into islands (or icebergs?) and are enjoying the much calmer Lake today.

Now here are some icebergs!

All that snow piled up to make some interesting formation, as predicted.
Breaking waves will wear this down by the afternoon, I'm sure.
Here's the panoramic view.

Heaving

We have had an impressive amount of snow today (not as much as the east coast, but a foot is impressive) and it's also windy. We went down to the beach to see what the Lake was doing. Huge heaving waves that occasionally broke and splashed into the air, which became ice chunks on the way down. The surface of the water looked like a desert that was alive, with the dunes shifting around before your eyes. Through it all, brave gulls were flying and diving. It was very hard to take photos because of the blowing snow on the lens (and in the eyes) and the cold wind that made it hard to be out of gloves for more than a minute. The shoreline ice formations should be amazing this week.