Icebergs and Feathers
Above, Ice jam under bridge and feathery ice crystals on a puddle, January 2018
What a difference a few months time makes in the Midwestern landscape! Out on my daily walk last summer, I fixed my camera on sunny wild flowers and an ethereal web of spider’s silk. In January 2018, from the same spot on the pedestrian bridge across our local creek, I looked down on a flotilla of icebergs!
Ice Jam, January 23, 2018
The bridge railings, festooned in August with spider webs, were now dripping icicles.
January 4, 2018
December 28, 2017
A quarter of a mile upstream, the creek meandered gently, rippling only here and there over a few boulders. Towards the end of December, 2017, it froze over.
Fascinating, feathery crystal paths snaked across the surface of the ice.
December 28, 2017
January 28, 2018
During January, 2018, we had a spell of below zero weather, and the stream froze solid several inches down. Then came a quick thaw, rushing water, and slabs of ice piled up along the banks.
Where the ice hit rocky obstructions, chunks of ice vaulted over each other and grew icicle teeth.
January 28, 2018
Then the ice from this small creek moved downstream and created the massive log jam under the bridge!
Here are some winter adventure tales which you might enjoy:
Winter Expedition Over the Rocky Mountains- 1857
The Journal of Lewis and Clark