Ice Saga Continues

On our last trip to Abraham Lake we were very lucky with gorgeous sunset and fancy sunrise the next morning. What we failed to find is some good ice. So I had to come back and do more scouting. This time luck was on our side. Usually windy like hell lake was calm and we even had to take few extra layers off not to boil to death hiking through the lake. Here is what have came out of it.

430_Calgary_photographer_Alexander_GubskiNikon D800E 17–35 f2.8, 17mm; 1/4 sec;   f/13;   ISO 100 composite image.

429_Calgary_photographer_Alexander_GubskiNikon D800E 17–35 f2.8, 17mm; 1/6 sec;   f/11;   ISO 100

Some trapped gas bubbles in the cross section of an ice sheet

422_Calgary_photographer_Alexander_Gubski

Some more fancy ice.  Closer to the shore ice sheets were covered in intricate web of fissures yet ice was so clear one could see the bottom of the lake through it.

416_Calgary_photographer_Alexander_Gubski

And this is Nick who have kept me company through the trip. Luckily for me Nick has a wealth of various knowledge from different fields of science and driving time went rather quickly.

Nick

Its a magical and somewhat unnerving experience to walk on clear ice seeing dark depth of the lake under our feet. Some indication of the ice strength were periodically encountered fissures showing that there is over a foot of solid ice. Without those fissures there is no clue as to how thick that ice really is.

424_Calgary_photographer_Alexander_Gubski