The Madison River Is Gorging!

Copyright 2013 Ken W. Hall

Copyright 2013 Ken W. Hall

Copyright 2013 Ken W. Hall

Once again she puts on her winter finest…the Madison River gorges. As it has been told to me the river freezes from the bottom up. The Madison, according to stories is one of two rivers on the planet where this happens. As seen in the top image the ice is nearly touching bottom of the highway bridge that crosses the river in town. A normal distance between the river surface and the bottom of the bridge is approximately ten to twelve feet. This gives a perspective of the thickness of the ice flow which covers the river today. I say today because it can change so rapidly that later today there could easily be a different scenario between ice and bridge. Maybe you want to stay on guard!

"Thanks for all your prayers and loving thoughts. I am doing better with each new day. Till I return to action at the keyboard, The Husband will continue to post."

- Penny

Flowing River

This morning I checked the Madison River at the bridge again.  As you can tell it is beginning to open up and flow easily again.

Temperatures remain in the mid thirties to mid forties. The wind continues to blow.  Skies are clear to partly cloudy and the sunrises are awesome.

It feels a lot like spring time.

The Madison River Gorged Again

 

The Madison River gorged again during this last cold snap.  I took these photos this morning when we ventured out to investigate the changes the cold made in our area.

As you can tell the river has an ice jam at the bridge in town.  The campground past lions park is once again filled with water and ice.

The fishing access past Jeffers on the way to Ennis Lake is flooded and frozen ice almost up to the entrance.  The outhouse is only half visible.

It was thirty-one degrees when we took our drive.  There was a steady stream of traffic as people went out to enjoy the warm weather.

Changing Channels

As you can tell by the first photo the Madison River has shifted and the channel at the campground in Ennis is gone. The ice is about four feet deep.

The second picture was taken a few days ago when the river gorged and created a new path through the campground.

We have had warmer than normal temperatures the past few days.  So, we have been out gathering wood and stocking up on supplies.

Temperatures are expected to drop again this week and we could get a little snow in the process.

Today we delivered some things to Helena.  It was thirty-two here and twenty-two in Helena.

River Road

 

The Madison River gorged this past week.  These photos were taken at the campground and fishing access just across the bridge downtown.  As you can tell the road is now the river.

When the ice backs up the river overflows its banks.  It almost always fills this campground.  The area behind the car is next to the highway.  The water filled a space that is about six feet deep.

The water spreads out all over the land and covers miles an miles.  It is quite something to see.

We got a little snow last night.  Today the wind is blowing again but temperatures are in the high twenties.It was three below in Bozeman this morning but we were in the mid teens.

Colder Still

Tuesday morning the river was flowing steadily through the campground. The steam rising from the water shows you where the river is exposed and moving.

At twenty-four degrees below zero the steam creates the most beautiful ice crystals on the trees.

The high for the day was seven degrees below zero.

Early River Gorging

Monday morning it was eighteen degrees below zero. At nine in the morning the river showed signs of possible gorging. I took this first photo that shows steam rising from the exposed water. There was only one patch of accumulated ice on the bank in front of me.

Ken picked me up at three in the afternoon and we drove over the bridge toward the campground. The car said it was fourteen below zero when Ken got out of the car on the south side of the bridge to take the next two photos. The ice on the river was piling up.

A sweet man in a pick up stopped to see if we needed help.

The campground was filled with water that had reached the entrance. Efforts to protect Lions Park from yet another flooding had sadly failed. It too was under water until spring.

It is amazingly still when the ice silences the sound of the flowing river. The only sound is the popping and cracking of the ice in the sub zero cold.