Ice Bridges

On Tuesday Elke and I skied across Buskin Lake and up the river.  Absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite skis.  A couple of weeks ago I was going further up the river and into the canyon.  But then most of the ice bridges collapsed and further progress limited.

On this trip I was heartened to see that the ice bridges are rebuilding.   Sections of the river are freezing up, and best of all the river has gotten 'clogged' under the ice in places and created over flow.  The ice clog dams up the river and backs it up into a a sort of pond upstream.  It flows and freezes a new layer on top of the old ice.  This is how the river builds up a thick layer of ice that is often quite a ways above the water running underneath.  Generally our XC ski trail runs along on a shelf beside the river, and we use the ice bridges to cross the river places.

The river is generally only knee deep at the deepest so the consequences of falling into the water are minimal.  I have had ice bridges collapse when I was on top - generally you are standing on top of the ice and have time to step off without getting wet.  But it is still exciting!
Patrick