Ice Jams And Mud

<===This was the ice jam on the Black Hawk Creek on the morning of February 10th, 2009.

I've been around rivers all my life, but I don't think I've ever seen an ice jam. Well, I got to see one yesterday in the morning on my commute to work. It was pretty amazing with the big, busted up sheets of ice being tossed around and broken by the strength of the river's current.

The large open water area to the right is where all the water was flowing around and over the sheet ice of the creek. You can see where the ice cracked under the weight of the overflowing water and was bent down to the creek bottom. When I came back by in the afternoon, it still looked much the same.

The route was pretty soft where I cross on dirt and grass. Of course, just two days ago most of what I was riding was under about a foot of snow, so it's no wonder I was sinking in mire in places. Good thing Planet Bike makes fenders for 29"ers, that's all I can say.

The wind was fierce coming into work. Going home it was at my back, but had subsided to a great degree. Speaking of degrees, can you say "60"? That was about what it got up to yesterday. A nice taste of what spring will be like, and a far cry from the negative temperatures of just a week ago. Crazy weather for sure! Today it won't be anywhere near that warm, but hey! 40 ain't bad!

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