Winter Jam and Jelly
Mix rain and melted snow to the Grasse River when frozen and you have a sure recipe for an impressive ice jam. The first sign of a good jam is seeing high water levels on the river bank.
We’ve had our share of sub zero temps but I was still surprised to see how thick the ice managed to get.
In an unusual move I removed my hat. I put it on an ice block to provide some scale. The ice was easily over a foot thick.
Looking out beyond the same block to some ice being piled up by the current.
Another pile up further out in the middle of the river.
Last look – ice piling up on the Grasse River downstream from Morley, NY.
Seeing a bright color this time of year is a pleasant surprise. Orange Jelly Fungus seems to be oozing out from the cracks in the tree bark. Looks like there’s some life left in the dead Hemlock after all.
Dacrymyces palmatus
Orange jelly looks a lot like Witch’s Butter but you can tell the difference by what they grow on. Jelly grows on dead conifer (in this case Hemlock) while Butter prefers hardwoods. Another trait of the Jelly is that it has a whitish point of attachment.
Orange Jelly season extends from May through November. It appears that it persists for quite a while. I found these back in early December when they were in better condition. They seem to have ‘melted’ and refrozen into a nice icy treat. Well maybe not actually a treat but most of my field guides do say Dacrymyces palmatus is edible. Only one guide used nonpoisonous instead of edible and actually said the Dacrymyces species in general do not taste good. I’ll let you be the judge. I’m not trying any unless you pay me.
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January 27th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
That is some seriously thick ice! All the ice fisherman around here (that own power augers) would probably kill to sit on that, as opposed to our thin coating…
January 28th, 2010 at 12:21 am
I love your two last posts. This ice reminds me of Amur river that runs near my home town. To see how the ice breaks and piles up in April was always a very exciting event.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:17 am
Wow that is amazing! I bet that was something to see! Looks like something from Alaska(-:
January 28th, 2010 at 6:42 am
I’ll pay after you have tried and tell me how do they taste.
They maybe good for sandwiches
January 28th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Oh, I hope there’s no flooding with these ice jams. They’re pretty to look at, but I don’t want to have one anywhere near my place. (unlikely, since I’m high on a hill overlooking the Bay. As for the jelly…it’s nice to see a bright spot in the winter greys and browns, isn’t it? But I’ll pass on putting it on crackers, methinks.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
really enjoyed your pictures (as well as the looneytunes!) — we were fortunate to spend a year in upstate recently and sincerely miss it. We miss the snow and the cold … … are we nuts?!
January 29th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
That orange jelly remind me of something stuck to the roof of a cave in a Star trek episode. Eat it? You must be kidding, I wouldn’t even touch it. Great ice photos as always, but I hope some of them were taken with the zoom. Going out on that ice is almost scarier than the orange jelly.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Amazing ice! what river is that which freezes so well?