Surreal ice formation makes frozen lake look like stained glass, Alaska photos show

Ice may be plentiful in Alaska, but an outdoorsman stumbled across the unexpected when he found a lake covered in something akin to stained glass.

The eerie formation, spread across parts of Mirror Lake near Anchorage, took the form of various colored sheaths fitted together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

It was discovered by Luc Mehl, an author, educator and expert in “wild ice skating” across Alaska’s frozen wilderness.

Mehl posted multiple photos of the “vapor figures” on Facebook, igniting a wide range of reactions. Some called the ice “magical,” while others felt the sight was “very disruptive.”

“They look like they are drawn,” Allen Cornelison wrote.

”Those are like stained glass. Very cool,” Susan Sommer posted.

Mirror Lake is a popular fishing spot about 25 miles north of Anchorage. It’s known for being small and shallow — “1.5 miles around and about 10 feet deep,” according to Alaska.org.

The shallowness of the lake may contribute to the formations, which Mehl says are uncommon.

“These cool patterns form when the ice gets enough solar radiation to partially melt internally. (This doesn’t happen very often in Alaska — I’ve never seen an example this nice),” he wrote Oct. 31 on Facebook.

“After refreezing, small pockets of vacuum are trapped in the ice. All of the pockets are aligned within the crystal lattice, so they ~flash together, making it easy for us to see the individual crystals. These crystals are huge! Many of them are three feet long!”

This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 5:22 AM with the headline "Surreal ice formation makes frozen lake look like stained glass, Alaska photos show."