I took this shot of ice bubbles on Lake Baikal in Siberia last year when we did a photo tour there with a group of great people. Tomorrow I will take off for yet another photo tour to Siberia and during my preparations that feeling of standing on top of the lake for the first time came back to me.
Lake Baikal is the oldest, clearest, deepest and biggest body of liquid fresh water in the world. In fact it holds 20% of the world’s liquid fresh water. TWENTY. EFFIN’. PERCENT.
It’s 395 miles long, 49 miles wide and at its deepest point it is 5,387 feet deep. That is over one mile of water. And I’ve been told that it’s so clear, that in summer, if you drop a coin from a boat, you can watch it sink for a whole minute. That’s insane.
Insane and very exciting when walking on top of it or driving over it in cars.
I took the above photo last year to show how the frozen air bubbles contrast with the deep blue color behind it. The deep blue is the depth. The abyss. The blackness of a mile of clear water. After knowing ice more for its milky and white-ish appearance, standing on ice so clear and with nothing under it cannot really be described by words.
Tomorrow I’ll take off to go back and find some more exciting pictures.