Frozen Delaware

Taken February 11, 2007

For the past few weeks, the outside temperatures in Bucks County PA have been well below freezing. By some strange twist of atmospheric heating and cooling, this has created a beautiful display of frozen ice sheets on the Delaware River. Quarter inch thick sheets have moved, frozen, melted, broken against each other, and in general created a mosh-pit of ice that makes for site rarely seen. The small sheets were pushed around and against each other, making for a landscape of pinnacles and valleys, smooth expanses and rocky terrains.

This shot was taken in Yardley, on the PA shore of the river. The small patch of river was a reminder of the very cold water flowing underneath the ice!

Driving north in search of more ice flows, I find the strange fact that the further north I go, the more the ice breaks up. I could guess that it's due to the depth of the river in Yardley and below, or the sality content, or even the mid-river islands creating a lesser expanse of the ice to form against. Whatever the case, got all the way up to New Hope without finding more than a bunch of overpriced real-estate and tourists on Sunday drives.

Figured I need to u-turn it, and try my luck south. Ended up back in Yardley, further south from where I started. Found a great boat launch, more shots of unique river ice scultpures.

Below Trenton, found a great bridge with ice flows leading up to it and only a small section of river flowing. By now the sun was lowering, and the light growing towards the magic hour.

I managed to find myself on the other side of the river, now on the Jersey side, just south of Trenton. I knew there was river access close to the Trenton Thunder ballpark, and I got lucky. Just south of it, a perfect boat ramp that now faced west, into the setting sun. Magic hour was upon us, and I was at river level.

I was alone on the ramp, right on the edge of the river. Loud cracks and pops were echoing everywhere, some loud enough to make me think icebergs had broken loose, some just soft enough to merge into the background as a symphony of sorts. The sun was setting behind on the trees on the far side of the river, and this surreal ice-spiked landscaped was mine alone. As the sun set lower, the tips of the ice spikes glowed pink against their ice-blue bases.

Thank you for joining me today, it was another beautiful exploration of the world caught on digital!