I was very excited for Dave Dempsey to speak last week, but I didn't think his words would help me reconnect so much with my home. When I saw the picture in his book of the Rock River Ice Caves in the Upper Peninsula, it brought me back to last Christmas when I went snowshoeing with my sister and her boyfriend to the caves. Winter is a wonderful season, and though it gets unbelievably cold in the UP, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
These caves form from the natural freezing of the Rock River waterfalls, and it is truly a breathtaking sight. It is about a mile hike from the entrance of the trail to the caves. Once a completely wooded area, the Rock River trails are a product of the logging that took place in the 1930's. Rock River extends about 15 feet over Rock River Falls, pouring into Ginpole Lake, a 13-acre body of water bordered by canyon walls. These sandstone walls support a diverse array of plants in the spring and summer.
These ice caves, whose beauty can be truly known only when seen in person, reminded me of the Robert Frost poem "Dust of Snow". It is a poem about how simplicity can bring happiness to even the worst day. Frost's narrator in the poem has a transformation of mood from just one 'dust of snow from a hemlock tree' falling on his head. If we all took a second to understand the simplicity of nature and really take in the beauty, I believe people would be a lot happier.
The outdoors have always been important to me, and to find such beautiful places like Rock River so close to my hometown makes me really realize how fortunate I am. When I was younger, I took a lot of these wonderful places overflowing with the beauty of nature for granted. From now on, I hope to see all the wonderful landmarks so close to my front door.
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