• Wednesday-What'sUP February 17 - 02:22 pm

On a recent drive by the shores of Lake Michigan, Brenda Leigh spotted a large "ice jam" offshore and decided she HAD to get closer for a photo opportunity. Problem was that access to the area would have been by trespassing where homes were along the lake, so she ended up parking about a mile away from the actual "jam" and walking along the shoreline to reach it. Brenda takes us on a mini-journey with her today, starting with the distance she had to cover, then getting closer, so you can see the shades of blue in the ice reaching the blue in the sky. Her third photo shows you how close to shore the ice is piled up and also an idea of how high it's been pushed. The remaining three photos need few words to describe, as you can see the teal blue shades in the massive ice piles quite well and the sheer size of the chunks is amazing. That sure is a large amount of ice out there and stacked up so high like this makes you realize the power of the Great Lakes just so much more. Thanks for taking us along, Brenda!

That some great pictures. Thax Brenda.

Nice camera-work!

I just love that color. There is a glass artist I believe out of Two Harbors,MN, who makes beautiful sculptures that reflect his impression of the ice. The studio I believe is Blue Skies Glassworks and his last name is Tonder. His wife is a glass artist herself. If you go to www.wdio.com, they have a link and a small story about the artists. Its really interesting!! Have a great day and thanks for sharing the awesome photos Brenda!

In regards to the glass artist you could also go to his site directly at, www.blueskiesglassworks.com, now I just hope I got that right??!! Its Wednesday and its already got off to a twisted start--sorry.

I miss this so very much. This was one of my favorite things growing up. What you don't get from the picture is the sounds of the ice and water. Thanks for sharing.

Gorgeous photos, Brenda! Thank you!

Shale ice -- what a great descriptor. I hadn't heard that one before and it led me to do a little research into names for different forms of ice. You always learn new, cool stuff here on the Pasty Cam!

Just northeast of Menominee is Henes Park which has a sandy cove where there is a swimming beach. A hundred yards or so in from the water a roadway separates the beach area from the playground. In the 1930's the "ice shove" was so great that the ice and snow blown in from Green Bay almost covered the street light poles. Maybe some folks in the Menominee area can produce photos of that event.
Unrelated comment--we used to called the DSS&A "Dust, Smoke, Soot and Ashes."

I heard a snowmobiler went in the canal by the bridge. He got out but, did they get the snowmobile out yet?

After looking at the photo, I can see where "shale ice" gets its name; it looks just like the rock type when seen in nature.....

Beautiful pictures. I like the blue tint in the ice chunks.

With regard to an earlier comment on the DSS&A RR, another commonly used nickname was "•••• Slow and Sheer Agony"; there were other similar names for the rr too.

While I was growing up in Houghton it was "•••• Slow Service and Abuse".