Beware! The Hidden Dangers Of Being Trapped In Shelf Ice In Minnesota + Wisconsin

Last winter I went for a drive to Wisconsin Point located in Superior, Wisconsin. It's on the shore of Lake Superior and you get a stunning view of the world's largest freshwater lake. I noticed in the winter how beautiful the ice formations are and I even walked out on them for a little bit. Little did I know how much danger I was putting myself in.

I was scrolling through Facebook last night when I saw an interesting graphic about the hidden dangers of shelf ice. That's ice that forms on lakeshores across the state. They really pile up on bigger lakes, including our Great Lakes.

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The danger is that you can be walking out on the shelf ice and think you're still on ice that's over the ground. But, you fall through the ice to realize you are actually over the water. The ice builds up high enough that you can't pull yourself out of the frigid water - something that's hard to do anyway.

The way the ice piles up and layers don't make it very strong. The strongest ice is clear, newly formed ice. Chunks of ice pushed together don't hold together as well as one might think.

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Make sure you don't go out on shelf ice. Don't allow your kids or pets to climb on it either. I honestly didn't know the dangers of this until I ran across the information. Educate your friends and others about this hidden danger in a beautiful spot.