Up close with the ice

A visit to any of the parks in the Hocking Hills region never fails to fill me with a sense of awe and reverence, no matter what the season. There's magic in them hills, I tell ya. Thus, it was no surprise that I was immediately taken in by the sight and feeling of the gigantic ice formation at Ash Cave.


The vast array of color and texture present within the formation was absolutely mind boggling.






Some images had to be converted into monochrome to really show off the texture.






In addition to the icy star of the show, there were some other nice things that caught my attention. The underground runoff from the ice mountain flows into a rippling creek, partly visible here.


Cone from an Eastern Hemlock


My first species ID puzzle of the year. I was very surprised to look down and see this bug actively walking about on the snow. I actually saw this same type of bug the next day at home, flying about, even. I've tried to identify it using my Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, but no luck yet. I'll keep trying though.


In case you didn't know what you're getting into here, it's icy here!


Don't worry, though, because I came prepared. My winter boots have absolutely NO traction (right Meg?), and I've taken a couple of spills due to this fact. Luckily I have a pair of Yaktrax, which give me great traction on the ice. Caution is still necessary, of course, but I would not have been able to take many of these ice photos without the help of these nifty little helpers.

The temperatures have risen and stayed above freezing for the last several days, so much of the ice and snow around the house and around town has melted. But I'm not done with the ice yet.

To see a special surprise that I found while taking these photos, please visit my photo blog.