Ice Skating Donner + The Ice Tunnels!

Hello!

On Wednesday, we got to go ice skating on Donner Lake!!  Isn't that amazing?!?!  We went to the South side of the like, where the ice is over 5 inches thick, and it is shady.  We were very safe, and with a friend who knows what he's doing.  It was unbelievably beautiful, and we had a wonderful time!  Lindsay actually got really freaked out because of the cracking (Cracking is totally normal, and happens on every frozen lake; it's just from expansion and contraction.), and the sounds it made.  To me, it sounded like when the phasers were being shot in Star Trek!  It was also windy, so she got caught by the wind, and her fear escalated from there.  My dad said he would stay with her, and told my mom and I to go skate.  It was super beautiful, and the ice was super clear.  A few times, the wind got really gusty.  Once, when I was going with the wind to skate back to the car, I got going SUPER FAST.  The wind blew me, and I was trying to make turns and slow down, but nothing worked.  Next thing I knew, I was sliding across the ice in the upside-down splits!  Plus, my sunglasses flew across the ice, and my mom retrieved them for me!

My mom and I on the ice!

A really pretty view of Donner.

Yes, those are buoys frozen in the ice!

A really cool bubble garden.  We actually got to see one forming underneath the ice!

 

A really, really amazing crack in the ice.  Isn't it neat?

After skating on Donner, we went to an abandoned train tunnel that was just up the road.  It was totally iced over.  There is usually running water, but it was COMPLETELY FROZEN!!!  There were huge icicles hanging from the ceiling.  I didn't really like it because 1) I'm not into big, long, closed-in tunnels that are very dark 2) Having big, HUGE icicles above me that make me feel like they are going to crash down and stab someone made me VERY uncomfortable.  I just got really claustrophobic and kind of freaked out, and on the way back, ended up fast walking/running through the tunnel to get to the other end.  I had to be careful though, because the the 'floor' was literally ice.  I mean, the ice stretched all the way across, and there was no dry ground.  It was pretty insane.  That whole thing just made extremely nervous and uncomfortable.  Let's just say I was REALLY glad to get out of there. :)  We were totally safe, and never stood under any icicles, and I knew that.  It just made me nervous.  To finish up the day, we went to Panda Express for lunch, and then headed off to dance!  We had a very full day, and it was a lot of fun!

The entrance to the tunnel.

This picture kind of gives you a good idea of how MASSIVE the icicles are!!!

A big icicle on the right, plus the tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

An interesting ice formation.

LOTS of ice!

 A long icicle.

 A cool picture with the 'light at the end of the tunnel' effect.

This MEGA icicle came all the way down from the escape hatch hole in the tunnel, which was really high up.

My silhouette at the end of the tunnel.

Pretty scenery!

That is Donner from a little lookout point on the road up to the ice tunnels.

We had a wonderful time!  Have you been on any fun adventures lately?

Have a great night!

~Grace