The Ice Cave

Do I look happy? I actually am.

Really I am not scowling, but I am squinting and looking into the sun.

I'd just completed one of my annual hikes with a difficulty rating of ... well let's just say it was not easy.

The climbing down the slippery ravine...or should I say, grasping at any damn thing I could to keep from falling...with a backpack of two DSLR's and a tripod, .410 shotgun...and yummy snacks...was pretty amusing in itself.
Once I got to the ravine bottom, I realized that I was on snowpack. Well the snowpack was soft and in places my foot would go down to the 'great beyond' ... somewhere up to my thigh.

Rocks, boulders, and logs were under me. Yep, I do know I should be careful and not break anything.
But dang this is such a sight to see.
Worth the risk.
Worth the arduous hike.

March makes me uneasy. It gets warm enough during the day so that I can wear light clothes instead of coveralls.
The nights are below freezing so mud turns to rutted patterns.

The sun is warm during the day.
My body is trying to make an adjustment between winter and spring.
It isn't sure of what it is supposed to do.

I want to hike.
The northern hillsides are still covered in knee deep snow and ice.
The southern hillsides are muddy and brown.

From the weather pattern I figure that the melting and the freezing at night has created a fantastic view at the 'ice cave'. If I go and make the effort I will be pleased.

The Ice Cave or Ice Falls does not disappoint.
It is probably the most incredible display of water and ice that I've seen in a very long time.

I could climb [if that's what you call slipping and sliding...grabbing at any damned thing to keep you from free fall...] into it every day and listen and watch.



That is it for today. The snow melt is starting in earnest.
As I returned from the hidden valley this afternoon I noticed that the creek had changed.
No longer was it running crystal clear...it was clouded by run off from the ridges above.

March is an exciting month.
I love it.