Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Deep Freeze

The past week it's been a bit on the cold side in these parts. In the words of the weather service, the region has been under the influence of arctic air. If this is what it feels like at the north pole, I will not be booking a trip there anytime soon! The night time temperatures have been in the low twenties; during the daylight hours the mercury has also failed to climb above freezing.
On Tuesday afternoon, I decided to make a trip to the beach to photograph the ice that had formed along the banks of the Columbia River. Needless to say, I had the area to my self as even the birds seemed to have found protection from the elements. Despite the cold, I was rewarded with some incredible sights. Hopefully, the images will convey some of my day's experience on the ice.


The frozen banks of the Columbia River



Note to self, be careful where you walk because you never know when the ice might give way, let alone what might be below!



As the water rises and recedes along the banks, it creates all sorts of interesting edges



The leaf of a black cotton wood tree trapped in the ice. Who knows, this leaf may have floated downstream from Idaho or possible as far away as the Columbia River's headwaters in Canada



9 comments:

Earl said...

Steve, it's beautiful but frigid looking. I can imagine being along the river and coast it must seem even colder.

You must be sharing that arctic air all the way across the country. It was 20F here this morning but has managed to hit a high of 41F so far.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Steve Skinner said...

Earl, I think most of the country has had a taste of the cold air over the past week.

monstev said...

Nature can create some wonderful art with this "frozen water" but getting out there an photographing it has become harder for me to accept. I'm moving more towards the fair weather photog. We're in Albany, NY this morning and will be in Buffalo, NY tonight and it's cold up here in the north.

My favorite image is the leaf, it's intriguing artistic work.

Steve Skinner said...

Monte, I liked that one too especially because it appeared so out of context. I've been to Buffalo in December and it's one cold place!

Paul said...

Wow, Steve! That's a beach? Too cold for a beach! :-) However, the river and ice make for some nice shots.

Steve Skinner said...

The ice certainly beautiful and it lasted just over a week; long enough! Now we are back to a nice gentle rain.

Pamela said...

maybe that leaf came from my neighborhood.

Actually I don't know if we have any black cotton wood. We have lots of cottonwood, tho!

It was 2 degrees on my patio Tuesday the 8th when I drove down the Gorge to Portland. When I dipped down into Pendleton, the thermometer on my car dipped to 0

Steve Skinner said...

Pamela, wouldn’t it be neat if the leaf floated down from your area. Leaves are truly the gift that just keeps giving, ask my neighbor!

Earl said...

I'll post this on the latest entry....I wanted to wish you a:

Happy New Year, Steve!