Ice Caves Courtesy of Cold Weather

I want to visit the ice caves in the Apostle Islands. If I don’t go this year then I may have to wait another five years before the lake freezes over enough for me to go.  It looks absolutely beautiful. Have any of you ever been? If so then please share your photos and stories with me!

Apostle Islands ice caves reopen for the first time in 5 years

Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 8:30 AM
Apostle Islands ice caves
Photo: Billboard Art Project/Flickr
You can thank the polar vortex for this one.
After being off-limits for five consecutive winters for safety reasons, the stunning ice caves of the Apostle Islands National Seashore in Lake Superior are officially open for seasonal gawking.
The 21-island park located off the coast of the northern tip of Wisconsin is a well-known summer kayaking destination that attracts visitors with colorful, winding caves and rock formations that protrude and dip along the water line, as seen in the photo on the right.
In the winter, the seashore takes on an entirely different quality. As frigid weather takes its toll on the Midwest, massive stalagmites and stalactites form along the islands’ striated geology. Inside the caves, lake water freezes into smooth, icy floors that are as clear as a sheet of glass.
Visitors can reach the caves by walking about a mile across the frozen surface of the lake — when the ice is thick enough, that is.
Park officials monitor the ice conditions carefully, and the last time the ice was thick enough to venture safely out onto the frozen lake was in 2009. Luckily, after the past several weeks of Arctic-like weather, Lake Superior is now iced over enough to allow safe passage from the mainland to the caves.
For up-to-date information on the condition of the ice, be sure to check out Sea Caves Watch, which provides real-time webcam images and weather forecast information.
Unable to visit the frosty sea caves this winter? Here’s a visual taste of what you’ll be missing.
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Apostle Islands ice caves
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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People stand underneath an ice cave in the Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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Weird ice formations on the walls of an ice cave in Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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Icicles hang from the ceiling of an ice cave in the Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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Man hiking in the ice caves of the Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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Lake Superior is seen from inside an ice cave in the Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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People hiking in the snowy Apostle Islands
Photo: stpaulgirl/Flickr
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Catie Leary is a photo editor at Mother Nature Network. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

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