Location Taken: Shore of Lake Michigan
Time Taken: January 2011
Did you know the Great Lakes freeze?
It shouldn’t be too surprising. They are fresh water, after all. It’ll freeze at 32 degrees just fine. And the temperatures get that low quite often in winter. Still, only the topmost layer and the shallow waters freeze. The vast bulk of the lake is warmer than 32 degrees, still holding on to the heat from warmer days. It heats up any attempts to freeze the whole thing. Most of the ice that forms on the surface melts away fairly quickly.
Near the coastline, though, things are a bit different. There is shallow water there, so ice forms at the edge. Then the waves push the ice onto the shore. The thin layer of ice formed on top of the water also gets pushed towards the shore by the waves. These two sources of ice start combining and piling up and accumulate into small floes of ice jutting into the lake.
It’s quite beautiful, really. Certainly not everyday sights. Still, I see not one tourist on the beach when I go to visit. I suppose most people think of beaches as summertime swimming fun, and don’t even realize that the beach is there in all seasons, not just the one where the water is warm enough to swim. At least this means I get to enjoy the frozen isolation of beaches in winter.
