Ice Goblets at Lake LaShane. February 20, 2026.

Back in February our dog Rowdy and I came home from a trip to our favorite lake. My wife asked me about the messy stain on my pants. I told her I found an interesting ice formation at Lake LaShane and the only angle I could use to capture the image was to lay down in this wet, messy glop at the very edge of the lake shore with my camera close to the water.

Today I downloaded the memory card with the photos that go back to that day.

It was cold and windy at the lake. First, bigger waves washed over the driftwood, coating the top of the wood with ice, and dripping down to form slender icicles. After the wind died down much smaller waves touched the bottom of the icicles and formed little upside down ice goblets. I watched this fascinating process happen and decided I needed a photo of the delicate ice goblets. So I lay down in the wet glop with my camera right above the water’s edge and took pictures. This was the third out of 8 total images of the ice goblets. This one had the best reflection of the ice goblets in the water below.

Rowdy and I came back the next day and the ice goblets were gone.

Rowdy near Lake LaShane, February 20, 2026.

Right before the sun set I did portraits of Rowdy running around.

Photo Data

Ice Goblets:  Canon SL3, Canon EF-S 555-250mm lens at 250mm. f/8, 1/650 sec, ISO 1600.

Rowdy: Canon SL3, Canon EF-S 555-250mm lens at 250mm. f/8, 1/800 sec, ISO 1600.