Just a few days earlier, Lake Michigan was filled with ice as far as the eye could see. Last week, we hiked through thigh-deep snow in this same spot to view the ice mounds on the beach, this week, they're almost gone. Only a couple of days of 40 degree weather and the floe ice melts quickly, and soon, all of this ice will be gone as well - it's meteorological spring already.
While our goal was to hike to Kintzele Ditch last week and this week, we approached from a different access this time - Central Beach. Closed for quite some time because of erosion and well water problems with the remodeled washrooms, it's a nice change to access the beach quickly via our old standby trails.
The remnant ice took on the look of the arctic, like small icebergs floating just off shore. But these mounds stood at the bottom of the lake and rose up a few feet above the water.
Some years, these ice mounds can rise 15 feet above the water - as high as the waves can throw the ice chunks when they pound the shore. This year didn't produce the usual number of mounds or ice volcanoes, but it was pretty none-the-less.
Just as it does when the ice forms, when it melts, it creates interesting structures on the beach. This cove is being enlarged little by little as the waves move floe ice into and out of the ice shelf. The beach was lined with similar structures as we hiked the shore to Kintzele Ditch, each unique in size and shape.
My only regret was not having our kayaks- it would be amazing paddling in and out of these small coves near the ice mounds. Maybe next year.
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