Walk Around the Farm

I have been under the weather for a few days and haven’t been able to get out to photograph some great frost we had earlier in the week. So late in the afternoon I decided to take a short walk to start building up my energy. My wife decided to come along and suggested we get the snowshoes out but I concluded that the snow wasn’t deep enough. I was wrong.

There wasn’t a lot to photograph and we hadn’t gotten very far when it started to sleet. I managed a few photos of items in the snow.

Seed Pods

 

Winter Grass

 

Winter Grass

Another Beautiful Day on the Red Cedar Trail

It snowed overnight so once we were done blowing snow we headed down to the Red Cedar State Trail for some Cross Country Skiing. It was a beautiful day but as usual this winter no one else was around. The trail had not been groomed after the overnight snowfall. There were a lot of deer tracks on the trail and we finally noticed a couple of them watching us ski.

The winter Sumac was beautiful against the blue sky.

 

The ice was is still in good winter condition. We were disappointed that there did not appear to be any eagles in the two nests across from the ice wall.

Winter at Willow Falls

One of my favorite waterfall for winter photography is Willow falls located in Willow River State Park near Hudson, Wisconsin. What I like about Willow falls is the fact that during most of the winter the falls is not entirely frozen so you have the opportunity to photograph ice formations in combination with running water.

I spend most of my time shooting individual ice formations.

If we have a real cold snap and there is a lot of open water you can encounter considerable frost buildup on the trees and ground cover surrounding the falls. I spend most of my time shooting individual ice formations usually in combination with open water.

Willow River Frost

This is the site of my greatest photographic disaster. It was my first winter photographing at willow falls and I became so excited at seeing the great ice formations that I accidentally turned the wrong knob on my tripod head and loosened the camera from the tripod. When I picked up the tripod to move it the camera fell into the water. The camera seemed to fall in slow motion as I watched. Fortunately Nikon was able to salvage the camera which I still use on occasion.

Access to the falls is somewhat limited in the winter because most of the trails are groomed for cross country skiing. If you drive to the park on county road A and drive past the park entrance you will see a parking lot on your left. Note that a fee is required for parking. You can walk on the ski trail down to the falls from this parking lot.  Since this is also a cross country ski trail don’t walk on the ski tracks. The walk down into the river valley is steep and can be treacherous if it is icy. I always wear  traction devices on the bottom of my boots. These are also helpful in walking around the falls.

Additional photos of Willow Falls can be found on my Website.

Everyone likes my bird feeder

Those who follow my blog have see lots of photos of birds at my feeders but they aren’t the only things that I find at my feeders.

The ones I would just as soon not see are the bears that come around every few years. They usually turn up in the spring just after emerging from hibernation. Unfortunately I don’t have any bear shots but I have watched one sit out under the bird feeder and tip up the feeder and drain the seeds into his mouth.

My bird feeders are probably fifty yards from the nearest trees so I don’t have squirrels very often but they do show up occasionally. I watched this one for several hours trying to figure out how to get to my feeder. He eventually succeeded so I had to remove some pine branches I had placed at the base of the feeder for shelter for the birds. Once I did that he didn’t come around again.

Grey Squirrel

On one occasion, late in the day, I noticed movement by the feeder and looked out to find Red the fox under the feeder. It had been very cold for a few days and he looked the worse for wear even though he looks good on this shot. He was probably looking for rabbits who is a frequent visitor to the feeder. Rabbits usually turn up in the evening after dark but this shot was taken one day whenit spent the day under a porch near the feeder.

Red Fox

 

Rabbit

As spring approaches  I’m likely to see Opossums under the feeder.

Opossum

CopperDog 150 Sled Dog Race

Just a reminder that the CopperDog  sled dog race will be taking place the first weekend in March. If you like sled dog racing it is worth visiting Calumet, Michigan.

 

More birds in a Snowstorm

 

Some of the other birds at my feeder during the recent snowstorm.

Dark-eyed Junco

House Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

 

 

 

Woodpeckers in a Snow Storm

I was able to capture a few woodpeckers during yesterdays snowstorm.

Northern Cardinals in Yesterdays Snowstorm

Yesterdays snowstorm really brought out the Northern Cardinals. At one point the wind was really blowing as you can see in the second photo.

 

 

Eben Ice Caves

Another destination on my bucket list was the Eben Ice Caves. So, while we were in Munising for the Michigan Ice Fest, we decided to drive over to visit the Ice Caves. When we arrived there were about 10 cars in the parking lot so I was worried that it might be a little crowded in the caves. From reports I concluded that they were not very big so it wouldn’t take many people to make it difficult to photograph in the caves. We also found a few snowmobiles parked along the trail which made me more apprehensive.

More photos from the visit can be found on my website.

When we reached the caves there were a few people in the caves so I started taking photos outside. The first few photos give a bit of perspective as to how large the caves are.

It was a bit tricky to get into the caves. This photo shows my wife climbing into what was the largest accessible entry. The only problem was you landed in about 4-6 inches of slush which you had to walk through to access caves from behind. The second photo shows a small opening but it was difficult to make it through it.

These are a few shots from inside the caves. I was lucky because I was the only one in the caves at the time.

This is a shot from inside looking out through the largest opening. Because it was so icy it wasn’t possible to access the caves from this opening.

Access to the caves is on private land. the first quarter mile is across an open field next to a snowmobile trail. The hike into the caves follows the snowmobile trail for a short distance. It was really sad as we walked by some snowmobilers who were concerned that they couldn’t drive right up to the caves and the kid whining that he didn’t want to go if he couldn’t ride the snowmobile. In fact, kids would have a blast walking to the caves and climbing around the caves.

The next section of the hike is relatively flat and winds through some beautiful woods. As you can see it is a well worn trail.

However, working you way down over the cliffs poses some problems, particularly if it is icy. I would strongly urge that you take hiking sticks and wear ice cleats. We met a couple who had made it to the caves without them but they really had problems and it wasn’t even icy on the trail.

The trail winds along a beautiful stream in the valley.

As you walk along the stream you can see the tops of the Ice Caves. It was a challenge getting to them because of the ice. In total it is a bout three quarters of a mile to the caves.

Michigan Ice Fest

One of the things on my bucket list has been to attend the Michigan Ice Fest. It has always been a problem because it was on the same weekend as the Hudson Hot Air Affair and the Apostle Islands Sled Dog Race. This year the all took place on separate weekends so my wife and I decided to headed over to Munising for the Ice Fest. It had been a cold two weeks prior to the start of the Ice Fest but wouldn’t you know that on the first day of the Fest it was 40+ degrees. Still climbing conditions were good. We stopped at Fest headquarters at caught a shuttle out to the climbing areas. Although we are frequent visitors to Munising in the Spring and Fall we had never visited in the winter so we didn’t know what to expect. We had hopped that it would be possible to get to some of the spectacular climbing areas along the shoreline or at Grand Island but that wasn’t possible so we were confined to the climbing areas along Sand Point Road. The shuttle dropped us off at the Curtains where some climbing classes were being held.

More photos from the Michigan Ice Fest can be found on my website.

At Opening Curtain we watched for quite a while. Looked like the climbers were having fun. It reminded me of my climbing days but that was 50 years ago. I might have caught the bug again and since they hold classes at the Sandstone Ice Festival and I may give it a try again.

We walked down to the Curtains and watched a different climbing class work on the ice walls.

Our final stop of the day was Dryer Hose. Dryer Hose was open climbing so climbers who were a little more experienced were climbing here. We watched a couple of climbers go up the wall. The last one was carrying ropes and webbing. Apparently there was a climber rigging at the top of the climb and he had forgotten some gear he need so another climber was bringing up what he needed.