It's a new year. A fresh start. A beautiful blue sky January morning in Chicago.
It is 19 degrees with a steady breeze off the lake.
My four-legged hiking partners insisted I join them at Calumet Park for a hike.
There is ice on the lake but it is not frozen.
Besides the ducks and the geese, we had the park to ourselves.
It saddened me to see the huge tree at the Rocks had suffered severe wind damage. There were several sections of the tree laying on the ground.
My favorite spot in Calumet Park to rest and contemplate the meaning of life. Damn, who am I kidding? I sit here and take pictures...of the sun reflecting on the ice and open waters of Lake Michigan...
...the U.S. Coast Guard Station...
...windblown floating ice forced together along the shoreline...
...and ice floating in open waters on the lake.
A group shot of me, Nola and Yeti.
Nola looks intensely at ducks out on the water.
There was a thin layer of ice on the sidewalk, so I chose to walk on the limestone break wall because I could get better traction. Yeti preferred slipping on the ice.
It was such a beautiful day I decided to sit here and enjoy the sounds of the ice moving back and forth with the tide. I just sat and listened for several minutes of pure bliss.
Sorry about the sound, you can hear the wind more than the ice on the lake.
My hiking partners also seemed to enjoy the blue sky, the ice on the lake, the refreshingly cold breeze, and the remnants of the latest first measurable snow in Chicago's history.
But most of all, we enjoyed being outside together.
We walked north to the boat launches which were beautifully covered in snow and ice.
I walked out on the catwalks and took this picture of the limestone shoreline protection.
Another shot from the catwalk shows the steel break wall of this harbor.
The north end of the boat launch harbor where the pancake ice is piling up due to a south wind.
There wasn't a cloud to be seen when I got here this morning. I know I did not notice this cloud when I took this picture because I was concentrating on the pancake ice here.
Nola looking into the wind.
We walked along the break wall to the northernmost part of the park. Some areas had loose ice...
...and some had packed ice.
Then I turned south to head back to the car. This massive cloud was moving over the park very quickly.
It was one of the strangest and fastest weather changes I have ever witnessed.
By the time I got back to the car, this cloud was out over the lake and it was noticeably darker. I was so excited that I decided to take the dogs for a short hike here today. Hopefully, 2022 will be a wonderful, beautifully strange year...just like today.
Great photos. I can't recall ever seeing floating moving ice like that on Lake Michigan but then again only went to the Dunes in warm weather. It never crossed my mind to go there in 19 degree weather & my Pug dog wasn't snow dog material. That huge dense cloud coming out of nowhere was eerie. I'd have gone to my car too & got outta there b4 being swallowed up by some strange weather happening. Exceptional photos...glad I got to see what you saw but in a whimpy at home way with my furnace turned on 75 degrees. :)
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