Dunes of Ice

Presque Isle State Park is a gem of the state park system in Pennsylvania. The name roughly translates to English (from French) as an “almost” island and, indeed, the peninsula connects to Pennsylvania’s notch and city of Erie by a strip of land barely wide enough for a beach and a few traffic and parking lanes. Without a series of breakwaters and the winter phenomenon of ice dunes it is very likely that Presque Isle would graduate to being an actual island over the next few hundred years.

The bitter cold of winters on the Great Lakes facilitates the development of ice dunes that cover and protect the frigid sand on the western side of the peninsula. As water hits the beach, some of it freezes. Over the span of the winter, the ice accumulates into dunes. My husband and I make annual pilgrimages to Erie just to take in the sight of this natural oddity, even if we can only tolerate about 30 seconds on the beach before the bone-chilling wind and cold is too much (despite dressing appropriately for the weather). In fact, this year the wind was so sharp and cold that it drew blood! After getting into the car to warm up I noticed a spot just below my right eye, blood. Never even knew that to be a hazard of the frigid wind (the temperature itself was not abnormally cold, mid-20s).

If you have not had a chance to visit Presque Isle in the winter, it is a unique kind of wonderland. The frozen harbor on the eastern side of the peninsula is often congested with people ice fishing. While ice-fishing shanties recently made news when an Ohio mayor expressed concerns about prostitution, there was no apparent red-light district off the shores of Erie. It is also always fascinating to see the lake freighters in the harbor, inspiring me to play the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (did not sink on Lake Erie, but the vibe is about right). Plus, the monuments and memorials on the peninsula are much less crowded and facilitate quiet reflection between gusts of frigid, winter winds.

And when you’re finished at Presque Isle, it’s always fun to do a little bit of shopping and Wegman’s and grab a sandwich at Picasso’s.