A Thousand Icicles

The weather has been frigid the last few days with daytime highs in the thirties and lows in the teens at night. A few days ago most of Puget Sound was on an extended snow watch with some areas getting up to six inches of snow. Even so I was surprised to see an icicle tree on my bike ride today (see photo). The winter wonder is on Hood Canal’s North Shore Road about a half mile west of Belfair State Park.

The family who lives there usually decorates the trees along the road at Christmas time with lights and hanging snowflakes (a few are visible under the ice). For this late February display they seem to be going for the spiky frozen look. I don’t know if they sprayed the tree with a hose or perhaps a sprinkler head broke and supplied the water. Either way the icicles are real (brr) but probably not natural. The green layer under the frozen branches is a mixture of rhododendrons and sword ferns, leaves heavily encased in ice.