I don't even know where to start with this one. We took a helicopter up to a glacier with the intent to hike out. As soon as we got on the ice and the chopper was gone, one of the group members asked me if I had their crampons. Nope. He was the least experienced so I sacrificed mine so he would have something to wear. The first order of business would normally be to rappel down a 200 foot ice fall. We decided to wander around on our current level to see if there were any ice caves that we hadn't seen before (and give us an excuse to explore and maybe take a helicopter back).
As we were walking (slipping around gracefully in my case) we stumbled across a whole fish on the ice. Being at least 2 miles from the nearest possible starting location for this fish left us puzzled. We came up with many possible explanations, but our favorite is that it had been frozen in the ice for 2k+ years and we just happened upon it after the ice had melted around it. Possible? Sure. Probable? Meh.
At this point there was a pretty steep hike down to an overlook and I decided to stay put. They went down to see what was there and I headed off to the edge for some pictures. They spotted a semi-sized entrance directly below them and my location had the best chance for an approach...on the rocks! We eventually made it down and found this amazing scene to photograph. We've decided to name the cave "Dead Fish Ice Cave".
After spending 4+ hours shooting in this dual chambered beauty, we headed back up top. Thankfully we had just enough visibility for the chopper to pick us up and I didn't have to brave a dangerous rappel without crampons. We had an awesome find and I will forever remember to verify that everyone has their gear at the car AND before we take off.
amazing shot Peter
Excellent shot.