Ice Caves • Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Wind, waves and ice have sculpted the red sandstone cliffs along the north shore of the Bayfield Peninsula into the fantastic cliffs and "sea caves" of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. These formations on Wisconsin's northern coastline with Lake Superior are generally accessible only to kayakers. Every few years however, when conditions are just right and the lake freezes solidly enough to allow safe passage, the caves can be explored "on foot."

Late January and early February of 2009 were one of those times and afforded an opportunity to explore the ice formations which take on a variety of shapes and stand in sharp contrast to the red stone. Conditions at the time these images were take were pretty harsh. Air temperature of about 5°F (-15°C) with winds gusting to about 20 MPH (~30 KPH) made it feel considerably colder. Windblown snow across the lake obscured the horizon and whited-out the sky above. Despite the challenges of shooting in these conditions, the feeling of isolation and the raw beauty of the area in winter was an unforgettable experience.

USA-Canada / USA-Wisconsin

Lat: 46° 53' 47.92" N
Long: 92° 3' 10.48" W

Elevation: 610

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Medium. Nearby, but not to the last decimal.

This panorama was created using a Nikon D90 camera equipped with a Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens, mounted on a Nodal Ninja 3 spherical bracket atop a Feisol 3441 tripod. Images were stitched using PTGui Pro. Additional post-processing in Photoshop CS4.