Brenda Leigh and her hubby, Jim headed west from Brimley, to the Rock River Canyon Wilderness area in the Hiawatha National Forest, so they could check out the walls and caves of ice there, commonly referred to as the Eben Ice Caves.

It's a bit of an adventure getting there, so plan on about a mile round trip hike from where you park your car. It's suggested to bring ice cleats of some type to make getting around on the ice a bit easier. I didn't think to ask Brenda if they wore ice cleats or not, but it does look like they had walking sticks to help navigate their way.

The pictures snapped are pretty self-explanatory and with the Brenda and Jim in a couple of them, you can gauge the size of those walls of ice. They form starting in December when the temperatures turn cold enough to freeze them up just right. The "caves" are formed between the overhang of the rock walls and the cliff, making for an interesting experience walking in behind those thick walls of ice. Quite spectacular actually, as Brenda pointed out, it was all formed one drop at a time.

So if you're looking for a unique winter outing, head to the little town of Eben Junction and let your ice cave adventure begin!

Mary says: Please see additional post below here about dangerous conditions at the Eben Ice Caves at the present time.

Very nice! Thought these were once considered to be on private property; if so, glad to see they are now accessible! Well worth the hike in!

Brenda, you are so adventurous. Going near that
ice like that would scare the crap out of me. Good
for you! You sure do take advantage of all of the
seasons the UP has to offer! Thanks for sharing
your adventures with us.

STUNNING!~

Incredible shots! I hope that you both have many years left to enjoy these kinds of hikes and taking us along through photos. :-)

Great pictures of the ice caves. They are indeed stunning. Thanks for sharing.
I enlarged the picture of Branda sitting down and it appears that there are cleats on the bottom of her boot. Brenda and Jim are pretty savvy adventurers so I am thinking they would have cleats.

Yes we both had ice cleats on. I would highly
recommend them as it makes it much easier to get
around in the caves. Jbuck you are correct! In order
to get to the caves you are on private property. Many
years ago the owners opened it up to the public. They
even have porta pottys there. Years ago we visited
there and there was barely a mark on the landscape to
know where to go. Now it is like a freeway getting to
the caves. Time sure has made a tremendous difference
with thousands of people flocking there every winter.

Also thanks to everyone for the nice interest in the
caves and the compliments as well. I too Alex hope we
have many years left to continue our fun times in
nature. Deb you are welcome and I am happy about not
being fearful of the ice.

Brenda:
I don't know if you get tv6 out of Marquette but they had a spot on the ice caves on the news tonight. The warm weather is melting them, the water was literally running off of the ice. They had video on tv but they don't have it in this article. Web site is the story.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Officials-urge-people-to-stay-away-from-Eben-Ice-Caves-411588825.html

The photos are outstanding today. I think i have
to go there! Soon!

With the recent warm temperatures, TV6 posted a story today about the conditions at the Eben Ice Caves being unsafe right now, so it might be a good idea to hold off on visiting here until the colder temperatures return to freeze everything back up well again.

Officials Urge People to Stay Away from Eben Ice Caves.

Wow! Lots of ice!

It seems the Eben Ice Caves have gone "viral". There was a video clip on the local Phoenix AZ CBS affiliate station's news programs yesterday!