We went on a "trek" to the ice caves.

The point in the distances is our destination. We estimate 2.5 miles across the ice.


The scenery was wonderful. This shot is taken from the shoreline. The mounds are push ice and drifted snow with a mixture of beach sand.


The trekers on the trip out.


The view from inside one of the caves looking north, northwest.


The photo above was shot from a point just behind where my treking partner is standing in this photo.


An ice curtian. The photo doesn't do it justice.


The largest cave we venture into.


Ice was the feature of the day. Ice in all forms and sizes. These were hanging from one of the ceilings.


More of the wonderful ice formations.


On the trek back we found this snow angel.

Unk get the gaf !!!......WHAT GAF ????

This is a tip-up. Baited and waiting for a fish to bite.


This is a "fish on" and a happy fisherman wanting me to get the gaf! Looking....looking......what gaf??.....didn't you bring one?......who ME?.......oops!


Part of the 15 minute fight it took to land this fish.


At this point the fish had been turned into the hole one more step. Reach in the water (no gaf!) and grab it and...get it on the ice!


Fish on the ice!


Get AWAY from the hole!


This is what ice fishing is all about. Him catching fish and me taking pictures.

Sadly, our local contribution to global warming.

In my opinion.

Late afternoon vigil.

The view from up on US Hwy 2. Look close at the top of the tall piling.








This Bald Eagle has been photographed on this post before. Today's local paper had a photo taken by another photographer. I tooks these photos today just as the sun was setting. The first four photos were taken looking north. The last two were taken from lake level looking west.

Cold sunny winter day gulls.

These gulls were foraging around an area on the ice that is used for ice racing on Sundays. Ice racing brings out tailgating (cookouts). My dog loves this area he always seems to finds something to munch on. Today he was competing with these gulls.


GLAUCOUS GULL (enlarged photo of top center bird in the photos above)

UPDATE: I passed the original photos on to Ryan Brady and asked him to ID the gulls. You will noticed that to the untrained eye (me) the three gulls look different which I thought was unusual for a single photo captured by PURE luck.

The response I got back from the trained eye (Ryan) was great and I quote:
"Well, I knew this would one day happen. You found a "good" bird and photographed it without knowing it.............the top middle bird ia a first winter GLAUCOUS GULL (your "good" bird)

I would slightly disagree...it might be my "good bird" photo but until Ryan IDed it it was "three different looking gulls" to me. So I'll settle for it's "our" good bird.

This is like the old question.. when a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear does it make a sound?

Thanks Ryan.

Ryan adds: "to find one of these along the Ashland lakefront in mid-winter is quite unusual........they are regular up at Corny when ice-free in winter."

Frost on the window.

These photos were taken in the kitchen of friends. We were there to have a pre-superbowl meal. All Italian, real Italian. Great food great friends. The frosted windows were just an extra.

Snow Buntings.

Your eye sight is not going. The shot IS blurry but I posted it to see the wing patterns.




This group (25-30) of Snow Buntings were feeding along Hegstrom Rd.

Active feeder(s). Goldfinches galore.

These feeder are in a friends yard in the Marengo / Highbridge WI area. There were 100's of finches coming and going today. It's appears to be a fulltime job keeping the feeders full.

Apostle island Sled Dog Race. More info coming.

One of the 81 teams.



A cold sport to say the least.



One of the many women mushers.



Multiple teams approaching the check point.



Team cross at the Hwy J check point.

The Apostle Island Sled Dog Race. This is an annual event. This year there were 81 entrants. These photos were taken at the second check point on County Hwy J just east of the Happy Hollow intersection.

1st landing photos.

These photos were taken from "first landing" looking north, northwest. The top photo is the start of a small city that will build over the next few weeks. It's only been in the last few days that these ice fisherman have been driving vehicles on the ice. This village is probably over 12-20 feet of water. The bottom photo is a view looking toward the northwest. Tetzner's Farm is prominent in the photo.