Yesterday we had the gift of time to take a drive in the hills. It always surprises us that we live in such a wonderful place and yet don’t get out to see the beauty of our surroundings as often as we might. We fill our lives with a sense of obligation about things that need to be done and use those “to do” lists as an excuse to stay in a rut between work and home. After a couple of days of high winds, it was still breezy, but less so than the previous days and the high temperatures in Rapid moved above the freezing temperature. The roads were clear and dry and so we headed up to Spearfish canyon to look at the sights, take a short walk, and have lunch.

Growing up alongside a river in country where it gets cold, I’m used to the special qualities of running water and ice. When the air temperature is below freezing, it is the motion of the water that provides the energy to keep it from freezing. Since heat rises, the water shares some of its energy with the surrounding area. Because ice is less dense than liquid water it floats on top of the water and, if there is enough ice, creates a barrier that slows the loss of heat from the liquid water.

Rivers and streams tend to freeze from the edges toward the center. If the water is moving fast enough it takes an extended period of very cold weather to freeze all the way across the surface of the water. Here in the hills, we have several streams that don’t freeze all the way across and continue to have areas of open water all winter long.

Up in the canyon, bridal veil falls has a fine mist that freezes solid and creates a wall of ice descending the rock face where the falls flows in warmer weather. It is a beautiful sight and a challenging place for ice climbers right beside the road and easy to see.

We took our walk alongside the creek from Latchstring Inn toward Roughlock falls, a place where one feels a bit less connection to the natural world in the winter because of the echoes of the snowmobile engines off of the narrow canyon walls. The lodge is a popular place for parking trailers and unloading snowmobiles for rides in the hills. We may have been the only people using the parking lot who weren’t there for the snowmobiling. Still the trail goes up the opposite side of the creek from the road where the snowmobiles run and there was space for us to enjoy a walk and take a look at the world around us.

No matter how often I see it, the phenomenon of water freezing is a fascination. With most substances the warmest strata is the top, but with water and ice, there is often a cooler layer above a warmer one. At the edge of the creek, these two areas keep trying to change place. The liquid water splashes up against the ice and some of it freezes extending icicles downward from the ice shelf. The running water warms the ice and some of it turns back to liquid and drops into the running water. There is a constant exchange of molecules and states of water accompanied by continually changing shapes for the ice. A layer of snow on top of the ice acts as insulation to keep the ice even colder. The ice crystals that make up the snow allow for air between them and static air is a fairly effective insulator.

The ducks, themselves well insulated with water repellant feathers and a healthy layer of fat, are equipped for winter living in the hills. They understand that the liquid water can be a lot warmer than the air temperature. Yesterday there was at least a ten degree variation in the shadows at the bottom of the valley. In the ponds there is plenty of vegetation to keep the ducks healthy. Ducks are omnivores and will eat small fish and fish eggs, snails and worms as well as grass, weeds and algae. In the summer they eat insects and they’ll eat a frog if they get the chance. There seemed to be plenty of foods for the duck buffet in the pond that is just upstream from the parking lot.

The bottom of the canyon is filled with birch trees that look stark against the winter sky with all of their leaves under the snow forming mulch for next year’s growth. A little higher in the canyon spruce are abundant, sharing the space with pine trees that seem to prefer the steeper areas and the space at the top of the canyon walls.

The world of snow and ice is a world of great beauty for those who are willing to bundle up and go out to have a look. Going can be a bit more difficult and there are places where snowshoes or skis can help to get around. Yesterday’s walk required neither as we weren’t the first ones to walk the trail since the last snowfall and the main part of the trail was well packed. If you stepped off o the trail you’d sink nearly to your knees, but it was easy to get back to firm, if slightly slippery footing.

My psychological and emotional balance requires that I take time for regular contact with the natural world. When the lake is free of ice I find time to paddle. When winter grips the hills I’m a bit less likely to go out, preferring to take my exercise on the rowing machine in my basement. Each time I make the effort, however, I am reminded that there is a definite qualitative difference between outdoor and indoor exercise. And, as long as I am able, I need to take advantage of the outdoors.

Being blessed to live in such a beautiful place it would be a sin to fail to open my eyes and look at the world that surrounds me.

Copyright (c) 2016 by Ted E. Huffman. If you would like to share this, please direct your friends to my web site. If you want to reproduce any or all of it, please contact me for permission. Thanks.