Icebergs in the Woods
It's May, it's sunny out, the temperatures are in the 70s, and the trees are turning green, but there's still ice in Munising if you know where to look for it. I took the following photos showing the melting progress of a large block of ice located in the same area where I went ice-climbing back in February. There was much more ice in the area than you see in the photos (mostly behind the camera)—but for this story I focused in on just this one 'berg.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001: Here I'm standing next a large chunk of ice sitting under a cliff about a mile from the Sand Point boat launch. This is a very sheltered area. Dense evergreen trees and a rock cliff protect the ice from the wind and sun. If you look closely at the background, you'll see a small chunk of ice still hanging on the cliff. |
Wednesday, May 9, 2001: This was a very warm day. Still, not much ice has melted. Look in the spire above my daughter Jenny's head, and compare with the previous photo to see some obvious ice loss. |
Friday, May 11, 2001: There's definitely less ice now. We had a big rainstorm on Thursday, which probably helped speed the melting process. That's my son Jeff in front of the iceberg. |
Thursday, May 17, 2001: Somehow I let almost a week go by without a visit. I was half surprised to find some ice still on the ground. It's warm today. |
Saturday, May 19, 2001: B.J, Heather, and Jenny all came out with me today. It was late in the evening, and the mosquitoes were horrible. Next time I come out during the day when the mosquitoes aren't so bad. |
Monday, May 21, 2001: My iceberg's looking pretty pathetic, and is not long for this world. I'll be back on Wednesday to check up on it. Jeff and I had a real adventure getting this photo. Not only did we get royally chewed up by the mosquitoes, but it started to rain after I took this picture, and we had a 3/4 mile walk back to the car. |
Wednesday, May 23, 2001: Alas, my little iceberg has dripped its last drip, and is no more. However, scroll down one more photo to see what I saw when I turned around. |
Wednesday, May 23, 2001: This is a different piece of ice than in all the previous photos, and it's the last piece of ice I could find in this area. It was 7:44 PM when I took this photo. I'm sure this ice lasted at least until midnight, and that it's safe to say that we had ice until May 24, but I'm equally convinced this ice didn't make it to May 25. |