Early January brings ice to the shore of Lake Michigan. Winds drive the floating pieces of flow ice toward the shore, while waves create mounds of shelf ice that will eventually reach over 15 feet tall.
Image requested for use on the South Shore Convention and Visitor's Agency web page. http://www.southshorecva.com
A small stream leads into the Sag Quarry, providing just enough moisture to the air to produce a layer of hoar frost on the newly fallen snow.
The frost crystals appear to stand up like shag carpet, giving the snow an interesting texture.
Started off winter break by visiting some great outdoor places: The southeastern shore of Lake Michigan and Matthiessen State Park.
The late summer and fall were quite dry, dropping the water levels of small lakes, rivers and streams, virtually eliminating the waterfalls at Matthiessen and Starved Rock. I was surprised to see Lake Falls so full and frozen. My guess is that even a few trickles of water will freeze into the huge ice castle that greeted us early that morning.
The St. Joseph, Michigan outer range light is covered in a thick layer of twisted ice following a winter storm that created 20 foot waves on Lake Michigan. The splashes from those waves created interesting ice patterns on the tower. As the wind changed direction during the storm, the ice began to twist.
This image was taken from the far end of the pier, facing shore, with lake Michigan a foot behind me.
Following a few days of high waves and freezing temperatures, the pier leading to the St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouses is covered in a thick, shining layer of ice. This area of the pier is enclosed by railings, the rest of the way out to the lighthouse has no rails.
According to some local people, St. Joseph has experienced a lot of cloudy weather, so this short burst of sunshine was a welcome thing.
The sun finally appeared in St. Joseph late in the afternoon, highlighting the ice on the outer lighthouse. The waves were up to 5 or 6 feet tall at times, so a lot of the ice from last week was knocked off of the catwalk and pier.
The waterfalls at Starved Rock State Park are beginning to freeze. This was taken in Tonty Canyon. There are two or three potential falls in this out of the way canyon, and in a few weeks the ice will touch the ground creating a 40 foot tall column of ice.
A few miles away at Matthiessen State park, the waterfalls are fully frozen from top to bottom. One of the smaller falls that is usually harder to access is totally frozen, and allows passage behind to view the ice from inside the small cave.
Ice formed on the St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouse and catwalk during a winter storm that churned up Lake Michigan and created 20 foot waves.
The ice apparently broke the "hand rail" cables on the catwalk, and they are now drooping down with tons of ice.
This iconic Coca Cola Christmas truck was parked in the local grocery store parking lot. It certainly was eye catching as I drove past. I believe there are several of these trucks and they tour the country during the Christmas season.
A twisted and wind-shaped tree growing out of the cracks in a rock butte high above the banks of the Kankakee River near Bourbonaise, Illinois.
This is a composite of four individual images stitched together vertically to capture the entire height of the tree.
A view downstream from a lookout point atop a rock butte on the bank of the Kankakee River near Bourbonaise, Illinois.
A winter storm was bearing down on Northern Illinois, and at this time, it was very windy and raining. Rain continued for hours then turned to snow in the evening.
The boys at the Dewey Cannon in Three Oaks, Michigan. This cannon was captured by Admiral Dewey during the Spanish American war. Three Oaks raised $1,400 for the memorial to the men of the battleship Maine, and the cannon was presented to the town by President William McKinley in 1899.
Chris, Mike and Dan pose by their first snowman of the season. About 5 inches of snow fell during the first measurable snowfall of the season.
The boys love running along the dunes whenever we visit the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. They get quite a workout doing it, and they often come across interesting insects, land features and even treasures.
The views of Lake Michigan and of the woods behind are excellent from such a high vantage point.
Just received word today that this photograph "Early Morning Storm" was chosen by the viewers and publishers of Capture My Chicago, a book of photographs of the Chicago area.
Last year's book also included a photograph of mine: Limestone Waterfall.
It's great to have a photo included in a publication with so many other great photographers.
