Dangerous beauty: The shelf ice of winter on Lake Michigan can be beautiful, fascinating and deadly. The ice forms in thin, windblown layers of churning water and sand. What looks like beach sand may not be thick enough to bear weight, suddenly plunging the walker into freezing water below. Use caution when beach walking, stay on firm ground and look at the ice shelves from a distance. (Tribune photo by Margaret L. Willis)

Ice and snow: The wind is the only sound on a cold winter day at the beach of Lake Michigan. The waves have been silenced by ice and no birds are present.  Walkers are warned not to walk on shelf ice which can look deceptively sturdy when it is actually thin. A walker can suddenly fall through the ice into the freezing water below, possibly trapped in the water by the ice.

(Tribune photo by Margaret L. Willis)

Posted 2/1/2008