Letchworth Ice Fountain

We headed out early Saturday morning before the temperature was able to move off the overnight low.

-23° C

We arrived at Letchworth State park, and stopped on the grounds of a hotel called the Glen Iris Inn. (Google Maps link).   As we parked there, we saw this sign:

In other words, don't be an idiot

That is a 35-foot (11M) fountain of ice.  I estimated its height based on the photo of me in front of it, below.

I have also seen it referred to as a volcano, which is an apt comparison.  Think about how a volcano forms: molten rock coming up and solidifying into a conical formation centered around the source.  That's exactly what is happening here, only with water in the role of lava.

Zoomed in on the top, you can see the water flow is continuing.  The formation will continue to grow.

Here is the obligatory shot of me standing by it for scale.

photo by Jill Frier

For scale, and to get a decent estimate of the height.  Not at all touristy.

We didn't stay there long.  By the time we got there, the sun had been up about an hour and the temperature had risen to a balmy -6° F (-21° C).  It doesn't take long, in that temperature, to realize you need to be going somewhere else in your nice warm car.