On The Road: Soft, fluffy snow in Alberta foothills squeaks loudest

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Sounds have been carrying so clearly within the chilly, nonetheless air.

I may hear vehicles out on the freeway, magpies someplace off within the bushes, a chickadee. A rancher in a tractor had simply come by and I may hear the thrum of his tractor’s motor coming from a subject simply over the hill.

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However the most effective sound was coming from the snow.

With the solar simply beginning to break by means of, its radiant warmth was ignoring the chilly air and warming the tree branches and fence traces. It wasn’t heat sufficient to really soften something however its warmth was sufficient to loosen the grip of the frost crystals. As they fell and hit the snow they made a mushy hissing sound.

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OK, I’ve gotta admit I had just a little assist listening to that one. I used to be recording video because it was taking place and I had the headphones plugged in to observe the sound. However it nonetheless sounded wonderful.

The opposite sound, although, was fully audible by itself. It was the sound of hooves on snow.

There was a line of cattle snaking off throughout a pasture munching on feed simply laid out for them, probably by the rancher that had simply handed me. It was simple sufficient to listen to them munching away, the occasional moos and coughs as they chomped.

However it was the squeak of the snow beneath their hooves that carried essentially the most.

I hope you’ll excuse a little bit of nerdiness right here however I really feel the necessity to clarify the place the sound was coming from.

So snow is made up from ice crystals that kind when moisture within the air condenses and freezes. It’s associated to the frost that was hissing down from the bushes and fences however the crystals are a lot smaller, perhaps a tenth the scale of the frost. And way more quite a few. This pasture alone would have held billions of them.

However as dense and uniform because it appeared, the crystals making up that blanket of snow had microscopic areas between them. And it was the compression of these areas between the crystals by the hooves of the cattle that made the squeaking sound. Every step they took squished the crystals collectively and as they made contact and rubbed in opposition to one another, sound was produced.

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Had it been a bit hotter and never the -20C that it was, that sound wouldn’t have occurred. The crystals would have been too moist and clumped collectively, the areas between them already crammed, to make any noise.

However on this morning, the whole lot was good and the snow was singing.

Snow was the rationale I used to be out this fashion. A bunch of it has fallen over the past couple weeks and with all of the speak of a coming drought, I used to be curious simply how a lot of it there was. Clearly, my one-day drive by means of the foothills and mountains was not going to supply a lot perception into the precise situation of the Bow River watershed however I wished to take a look anyway.

So leaving the cattle and squeaky snow behind, I headed towards the Jumpingpound Creek valley.

The snow cowl elevated shortly as I headed south and gained a little bit of elevation. The foothills bushes have been coated with it, a crowd of blue-grey ghosts on each ridge, and roads the place the snowplows hadn’t but been have been axle-deep in white powder.

There have been recent animal tracks in all places and I got here throughout deer and a pair of moose. Considered one of them was a male and I may see the nubbins on his head the place the antlers had been. Farther out in an open space near Jumpingpound Creek, a crew of ravens and magpies picked at one thing hidden among the many snow-covered detritus on the bottom.

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It was quiet up right here, too, although otherwise. The air was calm and I may hear the icy snow ticking because it landed on the truck’s roof and doorframe — and even on my jacket sleeve — nevertheless it was much less like there was no sound to be heard and extra like that no matter sound there was had been muffled to inaudibility.

Positively no squeaking.

The snow bought heavier as I headed west. Up on the flats above the creek valley, it was deep among the many bushes and out within the areas the place the bushes had been minimize — a number of logging vehicles on the highway — it seemed prefer it lay knee-deep. The Sibbald Creek valley was pretty in all that recent whiteness with the willows within the beaver flats blaring brilliant pink whereas the bushes within the hills round them seemed dusted with powdered sugar.

The snow that had been coming down in a mist of icy crystals was now turning right into a full-on snowstorm. There was nonetheless no wind — thankfully — and the flakes have been coming thick and quick, making it, in locations, laborious to see the highway. Very like I’d skilled driving within the icy fog a pair weeks in the past (I feel I’m due for a nice-weather drive) I needed to keep on with the center and hope the ditches didn’t leap out and seize me.

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The snow backed off once more by the point I hit frozen and snow-covered Barrier Lake however as I finished to {photograph} little O’Shaughnessy Falls, it ramped up once more. I gave some thought to strolling into the forest above the falls however one have a look at that trackless snow made me put the truck into gear and roll on.

It was actually laborious to gauge how a lot snow there was on the mountains, largely as a result of I may barely see them. I may make out Mt. Lorette by means of the snow however Mt. Kidd was fully socked in. Nakiska had heaps as soon as I bought shut sufficient to see it however that’s meaningless, provided that it’s a ski space with snow weapons.

Similar with the water circulation within the Kananaskis River. On this specific day, it was flowing pretty effectively. Strolling out onto the bridge for a glance I may see it flowing by means of and round and excessive of the ice that had fashioned across the pilings. The clear water turned the ice beneath a stunning shade of inexperienced.

However the circulation is managed by releases from the dams upstream. It flows when the circulation is required and that’s about it.

I stored going farther up the valley however the heavy snowfall and icy highway made me pull into the car parking zone at Wedge Pond. The snow right here was piled as excessive because the truck’s roof the place it had been pushed by plows and it weighed down the branches on the aspens, poplars, pines and spruce across the lot’s edges.

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The snow was knee-deep right here and with the marginally hotter air — the temperature had risen by a minimum of 10 levels — it had misplaced a few of its fluffiness. Right here, it sat in clumps on the branches and pushed them downward. I may hear mushy whumps as chunks broke free and fell to the snowy forest ground.

Time to show round. The visibility was practically nil and the freeway, regardless of the sanding vehicles going by, was icy and never a lot enjoyable for driving. I discovered a momma whitetail and her child on the sting of the forest close to the golf course and noticed,  fleetingly, a coyote nearer to the Nakiska flip. There may need been herds of elk and flocks of eagles and lumbering woolly mammoths down within the valley for all I do know. However with the falling snow and my focus on the slick highway, I by no means would have seen them.

The snow continued to return down as I backtracked over to Sibbald Creek and the Jumpingpound Valley — gravel is a lot nicer than icy pavement — nevertheless it backed off and at last give up as I rolled by means of the foothills once more.

The cattle have been now being fed their night ration so I finished to shoot throughout to a subject stuffed with animals round rows of feed. The have been cattle there, too, however what I used to be seeing was a herd of deer. With the parallel traces the deer have been nibbling at, their semi-silhouettes made me consider musical notes on a snowy white web page. I’m wondering what their tune can be.

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So did I acquire any perception as to snowpack and potential moisture content material up within the mountains?

No, not likely. I can anecdotally say there may be what appears to be like like a variety of snow up there. However I solely noticed a really small space and thanks, paradoxically, to the falling snow, I couldn’t see a lot of the very small space anyway.

However there may be snow up there and there will probably be extra to return. Hopefully, in just a few extra weeks, there will probably be rain to accompany it. Sufficient to stave off a drought? Domestically, perhaps. All through the remainder of southern Alberta, effectively, these irrigation reservoirs are mighty low. And the snow I noticed isn’t even of their watershed.

So I assume we’ve simply bought to attend and see.

And perhaps whereas we do and if the circumstances are proper, we are able to hearken to the snow squeak.

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