After the arctic blast of below-zero temperatures we saw in Minnesota in mid-January, I decided to take advantage of a nice day earlier this week and head out for a little hike at one of the area's state parks.

While I was on my stroll, I made an icy discovery strange-looking, but also fascinating at the same time.

A fascinating find on a Northern Minnesota hike

On Tuesday afternoon, I headed just south of Duluth to Jay Cooke State Park for a little stroll on a nice afternoon. As many visitors to the park do, I headed across the swinging bridge as part of my visit.

While I was on the bridge, I looked upstream to the west on the St. Louis River and saw something that caught my eye. Just below one of the waterfalls, there was what looked kind of like a couple of iced-over logs sticking out of the ice.

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth / Canva
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth / Canva
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I decided to head up the riverside trail to get a closer look. When I got closer, the structures looked more like a couple of coral pillars made of ice that stood maybe four feet tall above the sheet of ice around it. Next to the two pillars was a small hump that was erupting foam like a little volcano.

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It was really neat to just sit and watch for a while, so I decided to catch some video, which you can see below. It looks like something almost otherworldly!

During the bitter cold the Northland had the week before, a lot of the river was frozen over on the top. A few holes in the ice appear to have allowed foam to boil up and freeze over, building up these pillars and the nearby "volcano" that was spewing foam.

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While temperatures got warmer, some of the ice on the river collapsed and melted away, but these neat-looking ice pillars and little ice volcano thankfully survived long enough for me to see them! Here, take a look for yourself:

19 Beautiful Visual Reminders Why Winter in the Northland Is Amazing

It can be easy to get down on winters in the northern portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Piles of snow and temperatures that make it hurt to go outside can make you wonder why you choose to live in a place with such brutal winters.

Those same brutal winter conditions can also make for some absolutely beautiful scenery. Here are some visual reminders of the beauty winters in the Northland offer.

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth