Ice cave, Cabezas de Hierro, May 2012
On the 2nd of May I made another visit to Cabezas de Hierro – this time on skis – to document this phenomenon. I had seen the curious cave-like formation in the ice a couple of months earlier when there was nothing but ice around, no snow. Now in May – when you wouldn’t normally expect to find too much ice anywhere in Guadarrama – I wasn’t sure if it would still be there, or if it were, would it have been filled in or covered over by the snows of April? No, it was still there, partly covered by snow but still visibly cave-like, with a cavity large enough for me to get inside.
Ice cave seen from the side
In this area there is a stream which freezes in the Winter months, though not much ice is visible normally as it is covered over, sometimes entirely, by snow. Not this Winter however, and perhaps it was the lack of snow which contributed to the formation of the cave, as I have not seen anything like this in previous years. And ..certainly not in May!
Some pretty weird natural phenomena this year.
What next? Inuits hunting polar bears in Rascafria valley? Or will we see jabalí flying over Valsain??
coldspringdays 