Mississippi Ice Breakup
The stronger sun is starting to do its work on the Mississippi ice, especially on ‘warm’ days. Parts of the river have water flowing over the ice, other parts underneath. Large ice shelves are intermingled with corn flake ice, my description of smaller ice pieces turned vertically and bunched together.
The ice can be quite dangerous this time of year. I stepped out onto the ice, just a couple of feet from shore. Not where this photo was taken, but in another area where the ice was still thick and solid from the shore some 30 feet out. It was very smooth, and had an ever so slight slope towards the broken up ice and flowing water. As soon as I stepped on the ice I started sliding away from the shore, until I froze all movement. But even the slightest attempt to walk caused my slide to resume. Mind you we’re only talking a few feet from the shore, but I could see how a panicky person could easily end up in the river. The trick was to move very slowly to maintain whatever little traction there was. And then there was my oldest who extended a hand from shore just in case.
Just a few weeks ago a women drowned in the Mississippi in this very area, apparently going after her dog which had probably walked out onto the ice. The dog was found pacing around a hole in the ice. The are many side streams that enter the river in this area, their water being relatively warm even midwinter, as it comes from the storm drainage system, and springs. These side streams cause open areas in the ice, not only where they enter the river, but also sometimes downstream where the warmer water seems to be forced back up after having flowed underneath the ice for a distance.