Icicles Near La Crescent

On Sunday, I headed down to La Crosse, Wis., to visit a relative. It is a nice drive and I was able to see these really neat icicles hanging from the bluffs near La Crescent, Minn.

The bluffs in that area are massive, and in some places, through road construction and natural deterioration, there are small overhangs. As the snow falls, melts and freezes again, this creates large icicles. While driving along Interstate 90 toward La Crosse, you are able to get a good view of these icicles. In some places, they all connect for up to 10 feet, creating a wall of sorts, in other places, there are just a couple of feet and you can see a hollow space behind them.

On Sunday it was warm and sunny, but at that point the icicles showed signs of melting. Since then, the weather has been mostly in the 50s, even hitting 63 degrees today, so I think the lifespan of these ice walls is limited.

Between snow and actual winter conditions coming late, getting sick and just being busy, I didn't get a chance to see the Ice Castles in the Cities, or go see the Apostle Islands ice caves like I might have liked to, so it was nice to have a chance to see the natural ice formations, even if only from the car window.