Posted by Philip Schwarz on February 16, 2014 at 7:35 PM
This has been an amazing year at the ice caves. I'm still going through my photos from my trip earlier this month. Not a person in sight in this photo taken during the golden hour before sunset. Contrast this with Tim's photos taken on a weekend.
Since my visit things have gone viral regarding the ice caves. This is the first time the caves have been accessible since social media became popular and people from all over the world have been visiting the caves. Estimates are that over 11,000 people have been visiting the caves on the weekends. The National Park Services had to bring all hands on deck and even call in folks from the Border Patrol to help with the parking and crowd control. They have been hauling folks hike to the caves. Recently they have instituted shuttle busses to help alleviate parking problems. This has been the biggest event Bayfield has ever seen.
I stopped writing to watch the NBC Sunday News and saw they had a piece on the ice caves.
All of the visitors have managed to damaged the caves so they are no longer in there pristine condition. On the other hand in a few weeks it will all melt anyway.
More photos of the place can be found on my webssite.
Comments are welcome.
Hard to fathom that many people, but Tim's post showed it well. Do you know if anyone has shot the ice at night with off camera flash or light painting, etc? Do they even let you stay after dark or is it safe?
Posted by Toni Lankerd on February 17, 2014 at 9:48 PM
This must be the year for ice formations everywhere. We've had 100's of people walking on the ice on Lake Michigan here, going out quite a way beyond the end of the pier...not really all that safe as 3 people managed to fall through the ice. Fortunately they are okay as someone just happened to be there each time it happened, and pulled them out.
The lighting in this image is great, Phil. It's not very often that ones sees "golden" ice!
Posted by Tim Mulholland on February 23, 2014 at 8:44 PM
Hi all - I'm slow to respond as I've been a bit out of commission this week.
Regarding Kendall's questions, I took a flash with me to try to do some off-camera flash work, but I felt that the areas were too crowded. I don't know why you couldn't be out there at night - it's Federal land/property. As such, you need to be mindful of the risks that you're taking/assuming. Most people who participate in these forums have that type of sensibility.
However, I always love talking with rangers in national parks/forests/BLM lands to hear their "stupid tourist" stories.
As with most of my backcountry travels, I take a GPS and SPOT device with me - just in case...
Tim!
Posted by Nick Bristol on February 26, 2014 at 12:35 AM
Beautiful light! What a special place.
Posted by Darren Huski on March 5, 2014 at 8:48 AM
Great shot Phil!!
The ice caves were something I would have liked to have seen. Keep posting from there.
Discussion
5 repliesSince my visit things have gone viral regarding the ice caves. This is the first time the caves have been accessible since social media became popular and people from all over the world have been visiting the caves. Estimates are that over 11,000 people have been visiting the caves on the weekends. The National Park Services had to bring all hands on deck and even call in folks from the Border Patrol to help with the parking and crowd control. They have been hauling folks hike to the caves. Recently they have instituted shuttle busses to help alleviate parking problems. This has been the biggest event Bayfield has ever seen.
I stopped writing to watch the NBC Sunday News and saw they had a piece on the ice caves.
All of the visitors have managed to damaged the caves so they are no longer in there pristine condition. On the other hand in a few weeks it will all melt anyway.
More photos of the place can be found on my webssite.
Comments are welcome.
The lighting in this image is great, Phil. It's not very often that ones sees "golden" ice!
Regarding Kendall's questions, I took a flash with me to try to do some off-camera flash work, but I felt that the areas were too crowded. I don't know why you couldn't be out there at night - it's Federal land/property. As such, you need to be mindful of the risks that you're taking/assuming. Most people who participate in these forums have that type of sensibility.
However, I always love talking with rangers in national parks/forests/BLM lands to hear their "stupid tourist" stories.
As with most of my backcountry travels, I take a GPS and SPOT device with me - just in case...
Tim!
The ice caves were something I would have liked to have seen. Keep posting from there.