Friday, January 17, 2025

The World of Ice


 By now you know that I like winter. I like ice. I like being out in all weather except HOT & Humid. Winter often looks quite dull but with my curious mind I am always looking for something interesting.

I had to go get the Trail Cam SD cards so I made a longish hike out of it.

The first shot is a cell shot of a section of our creek that is freezing on top, trickling through below the ice. The wet looking spots is where the water is seeping to the surface to freeze.

Neat things happen in the ice as it forms around branches, leaves, and rocks. It looks like wild art.


Here some water seeps up and cuts across the ice making another strange looking formation. By this Saturday it should freeze hard again. We are due to be below zero without wind chill factor. 


Other curious and strange iced formations. No explanation, just fun shapes.



Then I always go to the Ice Wall. It looks totally solid but it isn't.


This is a rock wall that has moisture dripping from it all of the time. The water rolls out onto the ice and trickles down which keeps the wall growing.
In the summer, the wall is covered with Maiden Hair Ferns.




I am so fascinated by the sculpture the ice makes.

Further down the creek the water flows a bit faster due to the tiny warm springs along the way. These little creeks are the life blood of the valley. The animals come here to get their drinks of water. In some places there are worn paths to the open water.

I can't help myself when I see the frost on the moss and rocks in the creek. I have to grab a photo of it.



The ice bubbles I found the other day are gone. That section is now frozen solid and has a skiff of snow on top of it. The ice is frozen thick enough for coyotes to walk on it.


This weekend we are going in for another Artic Blast. So yesterday I took advantage of the milder weather and went wandering in different a patch of woods and found many surprises.

Charlie and I found some astounding sights. 



I'll share that later. Today I have to get things set up for another Deep Freeze.

4 comments:

  1. It will be cold! Those ice photos are interesting, they are art. You will have several days of inside play ahead of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I can stay out of the wind, it won't be bad outside, but I wouldn't go very far.
      Indoor play also sounds good.

      Delete
  2. I would take those pictures too, assuming that I could get there, of course. I couldn't though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some of the spots would be hard for you to get to, but come next year on the place next door, I could conceivably drive a 4 wheeler to the creek to study ice.

      Delete

Please include at least your first name if you are commenting Anonymously. Thank you.