It was a cold day, but after a morning sitting in my office for the first time in several weeks I needed to get out.
I bundled up and after letting the truck warm up for a few minutes drove the half mile over to the community gardens, parked close to the snow dump entrance and walked down to the river.
It was -35 when I parked and may have been a few degrees colder right on the river. If you are having a difficult time conceptualizing what temperatures that cold feel like, then I really can’t help except to say that -35 F is as far from 32 f as 99 F.
As I crested the small rise leading down to the river I spotted a fox on the near bank, and a second fox on the river just disappearing behind a snow bank.
Until today I’d thought there was only one fox, but knowing there have been two probably accounts for the high number of sightings I’ve had and the great number of tracks I’ve seen. After walking down to the river I walked on the ice downstream a few hundred feet to see if I could spot the foxes.
While I did not spot the foxes, my foot did crunch through a larger cavity between the two layers of ice that I’ve been photographing crystals from the last few weeks.
Stopping to explore it I found some exceptional crystals growing long and straight. They were incredibly delicate and required careful removal of the top plate so as no to crush them.
Although the crystals were great, the sun was out, and the sky was blue, the cold temperatures made me cut my lunch hour walk down to about 30 minutes. It was beautiful, but very very cold today.
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