More than 11,000 people traveled to the far reaches of chilly Wisconsin this weekend, trekking for miles down a road and across the treacherous ice of Lake Superior. It was all for a glimpse of the jaw-dropping ice caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
Courtesy Ernie Vater/VisualLyricsPhoto
After monitoring ice thickness and weather conditions all season, the National Park Service decided that the route to the sea caves was sufficiently low-risk enough to re-open to the public on Saturday.
The announcement caused excitement among nature enthusiasts and photographers waiting for a winter chance to explore along the shore in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Over hundreds of years, wave action has sculpted sandstone caves with “delicate arches, vaulted chambers, and honeycombed passageways” in the cliffs along the mainland and two islands; though the caves are viewable by boat or kayak in the summer, in winter they’re especially a sight to see, transformed by looming and delicate ice formations.
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Courtesy Hannah Worthington
Courtesy Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Facebook
Courtesy Ernie Vater/VisualLyricsPhoto
Courtesy Hannah Worthington
