Ice Cliffs (8.14.2011) - Our second, weekly sampling site is named ice cliffs or ice cave. We sample the clean blue water that drains from the top of the ice sheet, flows down through the terminal moraine and out an ice cave, before dumping into North River. The hike from the road is about 1.5 hrs over glacial till and tundra scrub. We cross two rivers on the way; one of which I have yet to traverse without getting water down my boots. I’m borrowing a pair of size 9 rubber boots that are loose on my feet and calfs. I often take along my hiking boots and change into the rubber boots for river crossings… But, my feet get soaked in the rubber boots anyways, either because I’ve stepped in a hole or deep channel in the river, or splashed water down the tops just in the course of walking. Now I just plod along the whole 1.5 hr hike in my big rubber boots with wet socks (wet socks are warmer than no socks!). Changing socks and boots gets tedious. I’ve got this nice little rhythmic shuffle down.
The water in the rivers we cross is cold, 2 deg. C. Laura and I choose a less than ideal place to cross one day and my large boots filled half way with water. With no socks on, my feet were in pain from the frigid pools in my boots. I even stopped mid river to dump them out! Laura and I were cracking up…oh duh, this is why we don’t ever cross here.
After the river crossings we hike up a small valley that cuts through the terminal moraine and head south along the ice to the ice cave. The ice cave is a cut in the terminus of the ice sheet that is scoured out by cold glacial runoff. We cross North River, which runs parallel to the ice front, to reach the mouth of the ice cave. There is a stark contrast between North river, a turbulent, sediment heavy flow, and the smooth clear blue ice cave runoff. I’ve collected 20L and multiple small samples from this ice cave flow, each time the water chilling my hands to the bone within seconds. The water is 0.1 deg. C. If you fall in, you would have very little time before becoming hypothermic. Our waders allow us to cross the rivers comfortably; it’s a fun feeling, freezing water compressing your legs through the waterproof overalls, and all you feel is a nice cooling effect.
The cave changes each week we visit, morphing from a cave into a canyon, its walls and roof slowly widening. The ice walls are a glistening blue and white, scalloped and sculpted into a snaking canyon that narrows into a tunnel at the back.
On one occasion I donned my crampons and hiked up a sloping ice ramp, working my way up the terminus of the ice sheet. Runoff rivers snaked through the ice and funneled into the ice cliff’s canyon. Many of these rivers had a pulsing flow. Plugs of water would periodically disrupt the steady stream flow, gushing down the frozen, luge like channels. From the terminus you can easily continue east onto the white expanse of the ice sheet.
On one occasion I donned my crampons and hiked up a sloping ice ramp, working my way up the terminus of the ice sheet. Runoff rivers snaked through the ice and funneled into the ice cliff’s canyon. Many of these rivers had a pulsing flow. Plugs of water would periodically disrupt the steady stream flow, gushing down the frozen, luge like channels. From the terminus you can easily continue east onto the white expanse of the ice sheet.
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