Georgian Bay Ice Caves Engagement

I am obsessed with winter which is probably the last thing you expect to hear from anyone. Winter is a time where most people hibernate in their house and pray for spring to come ASAP. But not me - I have always loved a good snow storm, going outside and playing, hiking and exploring in the snow. I think after a beautiful snowfall the landscape changes and becomes such an incredible sight I cannot help but love the fact that living in Canada gives us all four seasons. Another one of the reasons I love winter is for snowmobiling. This is a sport that Chris and I picked up about five years ago now and instantly fell in love with. We live and breathe for the day the trails start to open and we can pull our sleds out of storage and hit the trails. Something I had dreamed about all year was to be able to take a couple to a location that was remote and could only be accessed by snowmobile. I wanted to not only take someone on an incredible adventure but we able to document the day as well! Chris and I knew the exact spot we wanted to take a couple but had to wait and see if mother nature was going to cooperate this year. It was our hope that we could ride out on the frozen Georgian Bay to an island that gets ice caves from the waves crashing into the shore and freezing over time to create these cave like structures. Each year they look very different and for the last three years the islands were not accessible due to Georgian Bay not freezing enough to safely cross. This year was the year finally for Georgian Bay to freeze and we successfully were able to get out and check on the ice caves a week before the planned session and we could not have been more excited to take Robyn and Kyle out to the Georgian Bay ice caves.

Robyn and Kyle met us at Chris' family cottage in Midland, which sits in Midland Bay where we would leave to start our adventure. I was so excited to meet the two of them after a lengthy phone call of chatting about their engagement session and wedding I knew they would be a blast to explore Georgian Bay via snowmobile with. Everyone got suited up, we hopped on the sleds and headed out for a 45 minute snowmobile ride across the frozen bay.

Georgian Bay in the winter has a feeling of what I believe Mars looks like - very barren, many of the 30,000 islands stuck in the ice with the windswept pines crooked and snow covered. Many of the island cottages abandoned for the winter so it leaves you with a feeling of remoteness which I love being able to stop and look around with no one else around you. Chris and I pointed out a few key attractions to Robyn and Kyle as we sped across the ice towards our destination. When we finally arrived to these Georgian Bay ice caves we were so excited to take them to the caves and their expressions once we arrived said it all to me. It was truly amazing to share this unique places with others!

Robyn and Kyle had brought their adventure growler filled with beer from a local Hamilton brewery and they shared their beer sitting ontop of one of the frozen ice caves. This adventure session was filled with so much laugher and joy it was easy to forget we were outside playing in the snow with the wind whipping around us in the middle of winter. We watched the sun set over Georgian Bay and decided it was time to start to head back towards Midland. I had one more stop in mind before we got back to the cottage though - we were going to stop at an active lighthouse and was hoping for a cool night shot! I am so excited from the night shot I was able to get with only the light from the sleds and the lighthouse was really unique! I am so excited to share this our adventure out to the Georgian Bay ice caves with you. This session was really near and dear to my heart and this place has been such a unique and special place for both Chris and I that I was so happy to finally be able to capture this adventure engagement session here.