THE MAGIC OF SPRING THAW NOW

LAKE BAIKAL -- ALEXEY TROFIMOV

Cracks and booms announce the arrival of Spring after a brutal winter at Lake Baikal, in southeast Siberia, as its massive sheets of ice break apart. It is the largest lake in the world, stretching over 400 miles and spanning over 3 million hectares.

Baikal’s ice is so clear, you can see 130 feet below. Below that, is about another 5,000 feet of water, making it the deepest lake on Earth. The 26 million year old lake contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.

Spring awakening turns Baikal into new a work of art. And photographer Alexey Trofimov elevates it even further.

Trofimov was born and spent his childhood on the banks of Siberia’s Angara River. He has long been fascinated with taking pictures of the most remote, inaccessible places around Baikal. He shoots in "available light." His photos of Baikal’s spring thaw are sheer magic. 

Each March, when spring begins to tease us with hints of warmth, Trofimov is there to capture images as Baikal shifts its shape. Daily temperature fluctuations cause intricate patterns of cracks and wide crevasses in the thick surface ice. Some spring cracks can stretch for hundred of yards.

Unequal pressures crack the ice crust, causing giant shards to mound up on each other. Trofimov’s photos make them look like abstract turquoise glass sculptures, as the ice slabs rise up into the air.

As spring unfolds, and nature starts to slowly wake up from a long sleep, animals that live in and around Baikal start to move. The mile-high snowcapped mountains that surround, and the lake itself, are home to thousands of species. Next to the Galapagos, this is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth.

Trofimov is inspired and motivated to shoot incessantly -- he wants to show people how beautiful and fragile our planet is. You can see  more of Trfinov’s work and purchase prints here.

Read more about Spring Thaw all this week on BeautifulNow including The Most Beautiful Places to Be When Spring Arrives, Tempting Springtime Hikes, How Birds Find Their Way Home, and Spring Thaw’s Most Wonderful Waterfalls. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal, Russia.
2. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal Treasures. Lake Baikal, Russia.
3. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal Treasures. Lake Baikal, Russia.
4. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal Treasures. Lake Baikal, Russia.
5. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Baikal Landscapes. Lake Baikal, Russia.
6. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal Treasures. Lake Baikal, Russia.
7. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal, Russia.
8. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal, Russia.
9. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal, Russia.
10. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Lake Baikal, Russia.
11. Image: by Alexey Trofimov. Baikal Landscapes. Lake Baikal, Russia.