Winter Picnic

Well, we went for a picnic today. I know that sounds kind of nuts, it being 30 degrees and all. But we made ham sanwiches and took the cheese, crackers and salami, and some chocolates, put the dogs' sleeping bag in the back of the car, and went down to Merritt Dam. Since snow was predicted for this afternoon and tonight, we wanted to go while it was clear and pretty.

I posted some pics a long time ago from Merritt Dam, with the water rushing down the blowhole, and the dammed river behind it. Today, though, it was frozen at the blowhole... and all across the river. What looks at first glance like waves are where snow has drifted into the frozen 'waves'.


Below the two-lane road, you can see where the falls have frozen in place. Further down the hill, the water is still running at the base of the dam; still a pretty good undercurrent. But up on top it is frozen solid!

We took the dogs out for a long walk, and they tracked deer and startled a grouse in the high weeds. There were rabbit, turkey, and raccoon tracks too. The dogs were very pleased. Sasha loves to run with the wind in her face anyway, and that wind blowing across the ice was a good 20 degrees colder than back at the house! When Sasha couldn't get a good sniff at the tracks, she would shovel her nose under the snow to sniff at the dirt beneath, throwing the snow up high an spraying everyone with snow! She was having so much fun!

Then we went down to the riverside for our picnic. These pictures are from the opposite shore from the dam...


The sky is really that blue, and the river reflecting the sky from that angle looks like water with waves on it. It isn't until you step closer that you see the lines of the frozen surface, and realize that it is frozen. We had our little picnic here, with the dogs dancing for the ham we brought for them.

Then we took the back roads back home again. They are very narrow and sand-covered, but pretty clear even after all of the below-zero temperatures, blowing snow, sleet, and ice of the past month. We crossed over the Niobrara again, and in a lovely valley I took these shots of the smaller but still beautiful river...



The snow clouds were starting to gather, and puffing up all big and full of portent. The wind continued to pick up as we drove home, and by the time we got here was up to 25 mph, a good steady wind. "I don't know if there'll be snow" but it was breathtakingly beautiful out on the ice today!