My lovely muse beckoned.

It's eleven o'clock in the morning and the shadows are incredibly long.

But the Chemung River is frozen over, with only deer tracks going completely across. I was itching to try to walk it.

And I did. Here we are looking upriver, west.

Look at the ice crunching up around the water intakes. Hope the pipes run really deep.

Finally a view downriver, towards the bridges of our tiny city.

BTW, I never could dredge up the courage to attempt to cross to the other bank. Never did I hear the ice crack or groan, but I'm still too scared, anyway, knowing that a fall through the ice would spell certain death.

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Little Pond

The following photos are my trip to the Chemung on an extremely frosty Monday morning. The Tracker got stuck at the Grove Street River Access site, because under the snow it was all thick ice.

We did eventually escape, but will have to park on the street and climb the levee next time.

Blogger won't allow me to edit the photos with text. They are in order of their appearance:

A view of the Chemung through trees and brush of Foster Island.

The access to Foster Island. The entire area around it, including the levee, is thick ice under a lovely blanket of powder snow. It would be perfect for cross country skiing, or even snow-shoeing.

The mouth of Hoffman Creek out to the river.

A sunny panorama taken from the top of the levee, right at the Access Site.

If I ever get a chance, I will incorporate the text with photos at a later date. If anyone has ever experienced this and knows how to correct it, please leave a comment.

Thanks.

For the record, it would seem the problem was related to my own returned notebook. Seems fine now. I notice a big variation in blogging from different computers. And don't get me started on the problems I face when using a MAC...

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Little Pond

The Chemung before the Deep Freeze Jan 2009

Peeking through the trees to the Chemung River.

Soft, powdery snow hides the thick, smooth, treacherous ice.

Hoffman Creek is rarely frozen over, and this day was no exception.
This is the Grove Stree River Access site, completely frozen slick under the snow. It is dangerous here this day, and causes me quite the headache. The Tracker is in four wheel drive, but the ice renders that useless. After much rocking and rolling, we made our way to the city street to park.

Just before the extreme cold

Foster Pond was already freezing up, with no real connection to the Chemung, the inlet a complete block of ice. Got worse with the ensuing cold last week.

I wanted a fancy, artistic shot from under the bridges, but gave up when I got nothing but battleship gray and cloudy skies. Hate to prefer only the best weather, but frankly this looks cold and destitute.

Even my beloved trees are falling down, one by one. This is the work of the New York Department of Environmental Concervation. The trees are hugging the levee, and must go.

I am going to miss them.

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Little Pond