Our low for the month so far has been -24F. I don't know what it takes for hell to freeze over, but I'm betting this is close.
It has been unseasonably cold. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Place yer peepers on this pic of Ice Creek, formerly known as Rock Creek.
OK, so we haven't really changed the name to Ice Creek, though we could and it would fit perfectly. There are a few small pockets of flowing water that have not iced over, but not many.
The damned ice dams actually raise the ice and water level in the creek. Don't know if you can tell by this photo but the ice/water level is definitely out of it's channel.
Same thing is happening to the Clark Fork. Very slushy and much of it is iced over.
The good news is, we are supposed to hit a warming trend next week with temps getting up to near freezing for afternoon highs. Whew, I'm sweating already. Somebody pass the Copper Tone.
By the way, there is an official weather report station thing in Deer Lodge. It is two blocks from my house, on the Clark Fork river. It is at the Circle H Growers greenhouse/nursery place. I was talking to Ed, the owner, and I think he said it automatically updates every 15 minutes.
Here's the link to he weather page at Circle H Growers.Obviously, no fishing is being done in the rivers around here. Even if you could put on enough clothes to stand in a river waving a stick, yer stick would freeze. So would your line. Too many icebergs floating along too.
What about ice fishing, you ask? Sure, probably in the not too distant future. The bad news is what I know about ice fishing you could put in a rocks glass and still have plenty of room for bourbon. The good news is, someone has volunteered to teach me about it.
I'll let you know more about that in a few days. I think the ice needs to get a bit thicker first.
Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,
Ron
I counted 23 elk in this herd this morning. There is at least one young bull in the herd. Can you spot him? I think he is the 5th or 6th head from the left. If I did this correctly, you should be able to click on the pictures and they will pop up much larger.
