The Melt.

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MegaWoodsWalker

Forager
Jul 10, 2014
230
3
Connecticut USA
Here are some of my observations of the melt. The melt varies in different areas but tends to be between late winter and early spring. It could go into May or even later. Just depends on the area. I am no certified expert on anything, just thinking out load on my personal observations. For those hiking or camping in the melt it really can't be treated like winter or spring IMHO. As the margins of a field are neither woods nor grassland the melt is neither winter nor spring. It's also an opportunity to get cold and wet. Here is what I do to mitigate that and enjoy this short time of the year.



1. Clothing.

In the melt I prefer synthetics (fleece etc), wool and Gortex. Cotton is a no go. For deep winter with extreme cold there is a place for certain cotton garments but this isn't that type of winter. Layered clothing works great as the temps can be in the 50-60 range during the day then fall below freezing at night. It's very easy to have slush above the level of many boots.



Taller boots with water resistant pants. Gaiters are really nice this time of year and so are micro spikes/yaks tracks. Snowshoes aren't out of the question because post holing is a pain.





The taller boots or snowshoes will also help with deeper snow which might still be around.



Areas with poor drainage develop even worse drainage if that's even possible. It's very possible for these spots to freeze up over night. During deep winter these areas can be rock solid but now not so much. Best to place camps away from rivers, run-offs, streams and swampy areas. Goes without saying but conditions can change fast.







Small run-off streams which are easily crossed earlier in the day may start to swell as the heat intensifies the melt. Kinda like a rising tide.





There is also the possibility for water under the snow in spots which might not be totally expected.



Speaking of moving water the contrast between muddy flow and white snow sometimes tricks the eyes into thinking the edge of the water is farther out than it really is. Snow and ice are even more undercut this time of the year.



I usually keep far away from the edges of cliffs when there is a snowpack but during the melt this takes center stage. The bonds which held the snowpack are breaking down. A snow base can have multiple layers making the true bottom hard to distinguish at times. Get near the edge, have the snowpack give way and you're in a hurt box. Wet feet and flooded camps are one thing but a nasty fall another animal all together. Again this is probably common sense.



Despite being a melt the freezing at night lets ice expand on some surfaces till the snow feeding it declines. This can make for slick rocks even in the warmer parts of the day.



Water is readily available but will still filter it despite looking cold and pure. An entire winter is melting, mixed in is deer scat, ****, snow kill etc etc etc.



The warmer temperatures, stronger and longer sun combined with two seasons blending together can be a wonder. Keep dry and warm out there. Enjoy the melt!



Here is a video.

[video=youtube;LKlrXOZizUs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKlrXOZizUs[/video]
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Good plans. It's coming, even this far north (53) in the mountains.
Saw a Varied Thrush the other day (related to Robins).
Third Saturday in April should see the very first of the Rufous Hummingbirds back.
Hear that someone saw a black bear the other day. That beast is out a full month early.

Our BIG melt up top is in June. Culverts torn up, maybe a bridge or two disappears.
Like MWW shows, a creek you can cross at 8AM might be impassible by 4PM.
I've seen the water go up and down 48" in a day, depends on how cold it gets up top.

"Up Top" means my world. Anything to 9,000' around me.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Interesting post with good pictures; not much of the UK faces these conditions, some years none of it, but it's very good to see what other folks have and how they cope with the conditions. Thanks for this :)
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Thanks for the post, very interesting. Do some areas become virtually no travel ones with mud etc after the melt?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5D24_RVW8c

Up here the spring melt happens in May or later. It is dangerous on large rivers which we use to travel. Huge trees and blocks of ice coming down river make travel on or near the river dangerous. Blocks of ice the size of trucks coming down river hit trees and smash them to bits on the bank.

We use lakes and rivers to travel on when frozen up.

Make a mistake and fall through lake ice and you've time to get out safely. You'll just be chilly and wet.
Make a mistake on a melting spring river and go through and you may get dragged under by the current or crushed between the ice if the river starts to move.

From a practical point of view the spring melt makes travel difficult or dangerous. To warm to make juse of sledge or skiidoo. Too dangerous to canoe on water.

A several years ago two hunters out with one skidoo and one dog team went through the ice on the Winsk river. Five of the dogs got out alive but four got crushed to death by the tumbling ice on a rapid further down. The one dog survivor made it to the far bank, but we' couldn't get to him. I think he may have ended up wolf food!
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Spoke to a trapper yesterday, he lives up a tributary of the Fraser. Figures his road will be open in another 6-8 weeks.
17C/60F and big S wind today. Some new cornice avalanches up top, judging by the apparent width of a snowmobile track,
the chunks are house-sized.

The phrase here is "Spring Break-up." While it does apply to the ice breakup on the rivers, the logging roads are bottomless mud holes.
Even hot 4x4 with flotation BIG MUD tires don't fool around in there = nobody can get to them to help.
Long spell of time when the ice roads can't hold anything.
 
Thanks for the post, very interesting. Do some areas become virtually no travel ones with mud etc after the melt?

Yep here as in the other parts of Canada, logging roads are too soft from water and so likely to collapse.
Melt is happening earlier here this year due to higher temps and lots of rain on top of the snow we do have. Even on regular roads, there are issues with avalanches and landslides.
 

MegaWoodsWalker

Forager
Jul 10, 2014
230
3
Connecticut USA
Interesting post with good pictures; not much of the UK faces these conditions, some years none of it, but it's very good to see what other folks have and how they cope with the conditions. Thanks for this :)

Some winters I need to go to the Dacks or NH for a good snow but not the last 3 years. Here was the first week of March before the melt which is still ongoing.









The snow blower died earlier in the season so kept shoveling it by hand. There is usually more in upstate NY but it was enough for me. Thanks for looking.
 

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