Breaking Up...In NOT So Hard To Do

"It was so slow...it was like watching grass grow".  "It was so boring...it was like watching paint dry".  I am sure you all have heard these sayings but believe it or not when I tell you that watching and waiting for the ice to break up on the Kuskokwim river has been more fascinating and exciting than I thought possible.  Well, maybe not REAL exciting but definitely fascinating.

The average date for break up is May 7th, so prior to that date people start driving trucks, 4-wheelers, snow machines and bicycles to the banks of the river to observe its progress.

Just watching the river

 It starts with a little bit of open water between all the ice...


little bit of open water

progresses to big chunks moving down river...




big chunks and "pans" the size of houses!

to just one big o' ice jam...

Ice chunks on the road

which is what ever fears the most.  You see when the river jams with ice and the water stops flowing, then it flows over the banks and floods the town. 

Fortunately that did not happen this year and the ice is now all gone off the river and there is only a few feet wide of ice chunks remaining on the river banks.  So, I guess we could say that we had a good break up.  Not everyone can say that...right?

Russian Mtns. with new snow in front of a mostly clear Kuskokwim River

On another note I must confess my utter fascination with children driving four-wheelers. 
It is quite common and sometimes you might see a 10-year old driving and two younger ones riding along.  Just cracks me up.  I keep trying to capture them on camera but the little buggers are just too fast sometimes.










Finally, Beth and I are taking a mini/urgent vacation/medical trip to Anchorage tomorrow through Sunday for me to have semi-emergency surgery for a hernia.  Thank you for praying for us.

Mark