Ice heaves have formed an "ice push ridge" on a lake in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan. I walked over the frozen lake, following elk tracks to a place where they drank from some open water, thinking that I would be less likely to break through than an 800 lb elk. Of course, I can't swim as well as an elk, so I listened carefully for creaking and cracking of ice. The heaved-up ice was no more than 150 ft from shore, and even that slightly exceeded my comfort zone. I was very careful. The ice was very beautiful. It was a relatively warm day, despite appearances, and I spent about an hour there, shooting mostly with a wide angle lens, and then got off the ice before it became soft and dangerous.

Photographed at Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   landscape winter ice snow ice push ridge ice heaves beauty white wilderness wild nature beautiful wow Waskesiu Lake January Prince Albert National Park SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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I'll be heading home in a few days, with a couple of photo assignments (two performances and a First Nations Pow Wow to photograph!) - so I will try to get a few more of the recent shots uploaded, lest they end up sitting in my Flickr folder for the next year! Here's another look at the fractured, heaved-up ice on Waskesiu Lake. You can see that I didn't walk out far to get my shots. All the tracks in this photo are from animals; I left my own prints, of course, but was careful to not include them in any photos.

Photographed in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   landscape winter snow white ice green sky blue shore shoreline trees boreal forest wild nature Waskesiu Lake Prince Albert National Park SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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From yesterday's trip north of Saskatoon. I know it still looks like prairie, but the location is up in the boreal forest - this is a big lake. On the horizon, the far shore with its fringe of trees.

Freeze-thaw cycles have created ice heaves not far from shore; they were safe to walk out to yesterday. Lots of animals have walked out there, too, to drink in the meltwater pools: elk, deer, wolf. I went crazy for an hour out there, mostly with a wide angle lens, so more shots to come. I've only begun processing and getting I.D. numbers on these. The translucent green of the ice was amazing to behold. Highlight of the day!

Photographed at Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   landscape snow snowy white winter ice icy ice heaves thaw freeze cycle animal tracks elk big lake frozen beauty wild nature Waskesiu Lake Prince Albert National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page outdoor

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