Another spot I've followed ....

...through the years.

I went hiking on PeeWee's. The large tract of land next 'door' on Saturday. I wanted to check out one of the first ice formations I discovered.

The hike to there is done through two valleys and a ridge and across a large field that used to be pasture for cattle. It is now cropland that is rented out.

The hike to this spot is 1.5 miles. To get an idea of how remote this spot is...

well there are no houses or roads anywhere nearby or within sight. 

The guys that inherited this land call the area below this dry run... The Lost Valley. 
The valley is very remote. It is steep and narrow. More on that in another post.

This is another favorite spot of mine. It starts at the top of the ridge and drops about 150 or so feet down into the Lost Valley.

I've followed this spot over the years ever since I've discovered it. 

Some years this part of the dry run gets an ice sheet over the opening of the rock shelter. Racoons, love to use the 'cave' as shelter in the winter.

This black and white shot is from 2019 when I was brave enough to take a rope and climb down into the gully.

Close up to the jaws of ice...

2011 another time I climbed down into the gully. I couldn't climb out of the dry run so I had to scramble over boulders and ice to follow the dry run to where it emptied into the stream below.

[The reason I now take a rope if I am going over the side.]

And when spring arrives...the ice loses its beauty.

I shot this shot last year leaning against the same tree as I did for the second photo.

This next shot was taken in November of 2001.

I climbed up the dry run from the creek in the valley wondering where it went. I had a Pentax K1000 with a broken light meter but I was able to guess at the exposure.

This shot may have been the very beginning of my love for Ice Caves, Falls, and Ice Formations.

If we get moisture in the form of snow and rain, this may develop into a more spectacular ice formation by late February or early March. 

The hike took me to the west side of this ridge and a newer ice falls. During the huge and devastating flash floods of 2016 and 2018, the small dry run turned into a huge ravine.

To my utter amazement and delight, this too had ice formations. I'll have to check out a safe way to get down into the area, but color me happy to find more ice.

The edges of this dry run in the spring have the most amazing spring flowers. I also visit this area in the spring to see all the Hepatica, Trillium, Skunk Cabbage, Spring Beauties, and more.

It was a long and satisfying hike. The ice falls/caves are doing well but need more moisture!