Advertisement

Harsh winter turns Lake Superior caves into a wonderland

 
Visitors survey the caves at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin, transformed into a dazzling display of ice sculptures by the arctic siege gripping the Upper Midwest, earlier this month.
Visitors survey the caves at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin, transformed into a dazzling display of ice sculptures by the arctic siege gripping the Upper Midwest, earlier this month.
Published Feb. 15, 2014

The arctic siege gripping the Upper Midwest has turned most of the Great Lakes into vast frozen plains blanketed in white. At Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin, caves formed over centuries along the Lake Superior shoreline by crashing waves, freezing and thawing have been transformed into showplaces for dazzling natural ice sculptures. Waterfalls frozen into towering pillars extend from cliffs to the lakeshore. Icicles by the millions dangle from the cave ceilings like giant chandeliers, many as delicate and sharp as needles, others so intricate they appear to have been carved by a master craftsman. Cold winters are nothing new here, but this year's temperatures have been so consistently low that park officials say they've made the ice formations particularly beautiful by preventing freeze-and-thaw cycles that cause blurring. Another benefit: The caves usually are accessible only by water, but Superior's rock-solid surface is letting people walk to them. About 35,000 have made the trek.