Don Ehman was hiking with friends when they spotted these unusual ice formations under Tranquille River on Feb. 9, 2019. This frame shows about a dozen icicles connected to a white ice ceiling with variations of round and cone shapes resembling heads or hats. Then skinny "necks" connect the "heads" to the bell-shaped "bodies" that then stand on either one or two "leg" formations. Dark-coloured ice makes a floor for them to stand on in a curved linear configuration.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Don Ehman
February 11, 2019 - 5:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - Long-time photographer Don Ehman was hiking with friends this past Saturday along the Tranquille River when he came accross some unique ice formations.
The shapes formed underneath the flat top layer of ice and made for great photos.
Ehman, who has been taking photos since the 1980s and paticularly enjoys adventure and nature photography, was taking a friend and her ten-year-old son out for a hike this Saturday, Feb 9. He says they drove up Red Lake Road and pulled over two kilometres away from where it crosses the Tranquille River.
They found the ice thick enough for them to walk on, and as they trekked along, the young boy spotted a cavern in the ice.
"When we looked inside that’s what we saw is these little shapes," Ehman recalls.
A photo taken from further away shows the cavern more fully with many more formations all looking more or less similar to the humanlike icicles from the previous frame. It shows the cavern under the ice goes far enough back that some shapes disappear into the darkness. The photographer, Don Ehman, estimates the formations are about 18 cm to 23 cm (seven inches to nine inches) in height.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Don Ehman
"They have things that look like bodies and then a couple of them actually have two legs coming out which is startling to me," he says. "And when you do see unique features like that you usually see a twig or something that initiates the formation in the ice. This is the first time I’ve seen it totally clear with nothing in the middle."
Though he cannot say for sure Ehman guesses the river's water levels rising and falling might account for how the icicles took these humanlike shapes.
"It's amazing how nature reveals itself to you." Ehman says. "Every time you go out— even on a bad day— you think to yourself, 'Jeeze, I’m not going to see anything. I might as well not take the camera.' But you know I take it every time, and just something beautiful reveals itself everytime."
Go here to see more of Ehman's photography on Facebook.
—This story was corrected for spelling on Feb. 16, 2019 at 12:51 p.m.
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