I saw my first ice bubbles some time in the 90s, crazy times, while walking over a frozen river. Learned how they form at a later time. Wherever you have organic matter decomposition underwater, thanks to bacteria, methane gas is produced and bubbles upward. Now you just need cold temperatures for ice to form and the gas to get trapped. Final piece, no snow on top of the ice to hide the bubbles from your viewing pleasures. So, it’s possible to see trapped methane bubbles at any body of water in the Rockies and at home if you’re having a bubble bath and leave the windows open when it’s minus thirty degrees Celsius outside. Over the last number of years people posting pictures of the ice bubbles have made them very popular on social media. One of the most popular places for ice bubbles is Abraham Lake, located east of Banff National Park, even though many posted it as being in Banff. After social media, the lake led people searching for their own images of the bubbles.
One of the best places in Banff NP is the back of Minnewanka Lake, but to get there you have to hike about 18 kms one way. A few years back I did that hike, ate lots of chocolate that day. Most of the winters, I look for bubbles near to home. In this case it was near a bend in the river before a few snowfalls took the view away.
