We have never been to our property in the winter because I just can't bring myself to sleep in a tent in the snow. So when Rich and Sena (our neighbors over in Entiat) asked us to come stay with them for New Year's we were very excited.
We had heard what it was like but weren't exactly sure what to expect. So we packed a lot of warm closes, bought some chains for the CRV and headed out over the pass. It was supposed to snow a couple feet in the mountains that day but it wasn't really that bad. It was very beautiful in the mountains.
Blue enjoyed the ride from the back and was very excited to be able to get out and play. The buffaloes that are along the road to Wenatchee were enjoying the snow as well. But as we got closer to Wenatchee the snow began to diminish. We were starting to wonder how much snow there was actually going to be at the property. Here is a picture of Rocky Reach Dam and Lake Entiat. As you can see there was only a dusting in most areas. But as we turned up Entiat River road we saw that the delta where Entiat River flows into Entiat Lake was actually frozen over.
And as we drove further up the river the snow began to accumulate more and we also saw a strange occurrence in the river. The river was flowing but it had an green color too it and there were large chunks of ice in the middle. After doing some research I found out that they call this Anchor Ice.
After looking for a long time on the Internet I found a lot of debate as to whether a river can actual freeze from the bottom up, but here is a source that seemed reliable and what they said about Anchor Ice:
In streams and other turbulent water bodies the water can supercool
(i.e. cool below the freezing point).
When this occurs, frazil forms in the water column and anchor ice may form on the stream bed. Formation of anchor ice and its subsequent release from the bed results in sediment transport by the released anchor ice (i.e. ice rafting).
You can find out more about Anchor Ice at the following website as well as video showing how it forms.
http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/kempema/vidtour.html
We kept traveling up river, it was pretty smooth going till we give to about the 15 mile mark. The snow began to get a lot deeper and the road was still plowed but had ice on it. We pulled into our driveway and could see that there was about 3 feet of snow.
Here is a picture of Eric standing out our Riverwood Gate on the bridge.
And looking from the bridge the river looked very calm but very cold. There was not going to be any swimming on this trip, not even for Blue.
Fortunately Rich & Sena had been paying to have the driveway plowed so that we could drive all the way up to the house. It looked amazing. The house was wonderful and there were huge icicles hanging off the roof. The house was all finished inside and furnished. We stayed in one of the bedrooms in the downstairs.
You can see the window looking out from the room on the walk up to the porch. Even the view from that window had an amazing view of the mountains.
By the time we arrived on Sunday it was a bit late to go exploring, so we stayed inside and visited with Rich, Sena, their son Hugh and their other family that were staying for the New Year's.
The next morning Eric and I decided to drive up river to see what it was like up there. Of course there was more accumulation, and the trees were covered in snow. You couldn't really see the river very well because the snow plow created a huge pile along the side of the road. We did discover one thing though, about 5 miles up from our driveway they no longer plowed the roads. They stopped at the gravel pit area that is along side the road. From there you could see a narrow path along were the road is. This was for snowmobiles. There were a number of people parked there and enjoying the trail.
When we got back to the house we decided to go out and enjoy the snow while there was daylight. We borrowed Rich & Sena's snow shoes and took a little walk through our property and around the area. Sena had already made the track so that made wading through 3 feet of snow a lot easier for Eric and I. Of course Blue didn't quite understand the idea of the path and preferred to go hopping jumping almost swimming through the snow drifts.
Eric dared me to make a snow angel. I got a lot of snow in my face but it was pretty fun.
For the New Year's Celebration we had a bon fire. It sounds a little crazy to have a bonfire in the snow when it is 10 degrees outside, but it was actually pretty fun. And as long as you stayed near the fire it wasn't too cold. In fact it was such a big fire that most of the time my knees were burning. We had a lot of fun and are glad we finally got to see the property during the winter.
We had heard what it was like but weren't exactly sure what to expect. So we packed a lot of warm closes, bought some chains for the CRV and headed out over the pass. It was supposed to snow a couple feet in the mountains that day but it wasn't really that bad. It was very beautiful in the mountains.
Blue enjoyed the ride from the back and was very excited to be able to get out and play. The buffaloes that are along the road to Wenatchee were enjoying the snow as well. But as we got closer to Wenatchee the snow began to diminish. We were starting to wonder how much snow there was actually going to be at the property. Here is a picture of Rocky Reach Dam and Lake Entiat. As you can see there was only a dusting in most areas. But as we turned up Entiat River road we saw that the delta where Entiat River flows into Entiat Lake was actually frozen over.
And as we drove further up the river the snow began to accumulate more and we also saw a strange occurrence in the river. The river was flowing but it had an green color too it and there were large chunks of ice in the middle. After doing some research I found out that they call this Anchor Ice.
After looking for a long time on the Internet I found a lot of debate as to whether a river can actual freeze from the bottom up, but here is a source that seemed reliable and what they said about Anchor Ice:
In streams and other turbulent water bodies the water can supercool
(i.e. cool below the freezing point).
When this occurs, frazil forms in the water column and anchor ice may form on the stream bed. Formation of anchor ice and its subsequent release from the bed results in sediment transport by the released anchor ice (i.e. ice rafting).
You can find out more about Anchor Ice at the following website as well as video showing how it forms.
http://faculty.gg.uwyo.edu/kempema/vidtour.html
We kept traveling up river, it was pretty smooth going till we give to about the 15 mile mark. The snow began to get a lot deeper and the road was still plowed but had ice on it. We pulled into our driveway and could see that there was about 3 feet of snow.
Here is a picture of Eric standing out our Riverwood Gate on the bridge.
And looking from the bridge the river looked very calm but very cold. There was not going to be any swimming on this trip, not even for Blue.
Fortunately Rich & Sena had been paying to have the driveway plowed so that we could drive all the way up to the house. It looked amazing. The house was wonderful and there were huge icicles hanging off the roof. The house was all finished inside and furnished. We stayed in one of the bedrooms in the downstairs.
You can see the window looking out from the room on the walk up to the porch. Even the view from that window had an amazing view of the mountains.
By the time we arrived on Sunday it was a bit late to go exploring, so we stayed inside and visited with Rich, Sena, their son Hugh and their other family that were staying for the New Year's.
The next morning Eric and I decided to drive up river to see what it was like up there. Of course there was more accumulation, and the trees were covered in snow. You couldn't really see the river very well because the snow plow created a huge pile along the side of the road. We did discover one thing though, about 5 miles up from our driveway they no longer plowed the roads. They stopped at the gravel pit area that is along side the road. From there you could see a narrow path along were the road is. This was for snowmobiles. There were a number of people parked there and enjoying the trail.
When we got back to the house we decided to go out and enjoy the snow while there was daylight. We borrowed Rich & Sena's snow shoes and took a little walk through our property and around the area. Sena had already made the track so that made wading through 3 feet of snow a lot easier for Eric and I. Of course Blue didn't quite understand the idea of the path and preferred to go hopping jumping almost swimming through the snow drifts.
Eric dared me to make a snow angel. I got a lot of snow in my face but it was pretty fun.
For the New Year's Celebration we had a bon fire. It sounds a little crazy to have a bonfire in the snow when it is 10 degrees outside, but it was actually pretty fun. And as long as you stayed near the fire it wasn't too cold. In fact it was such a big fire that most of the time my knees were burning. We had a lot of fun and are glad we finally got to see the property during the winter.
