This past weekend I made my much anticipated return to my spot at Potash Brook in the East Woods Natural Area. I was shocked to see just how different it looked from my last visit over a month ago. Snow and ice blanketed everything surrounding me. I was in awe of it all. Since I am from the South, I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to snow and ice. There is usually a little bit of a rocky shore on the edge of the brook that I sit on when I visit this site, so I started immediately making my way down to that area. Once I got there, I took a big step forward and, much to my surprise, my food punched a hole through a big sheet of ice and I slipped into the water. After a few more slips into the brook, I finally managed to scramble away from the shore and catch my bearings. I went back over to what I had thought was the rocky shore of the brook and as I was examining it I realized that the water had risen due to snow melt, washed away the shore, and froze over enough to create a thin piece of ice that looked like land. I looked upstream and noticed that all of the rocks that used to poke out of the surface of the water had also been covered by large sheets of ice and then topped with a few inches of snow. As I was examining the water I noticed that it was moving much faster than it was in December. This was also due to the snow melt. I walked away from the edge of the brook and wandered a little bit farther into the woods. I noticed many footprints left by hikers and some dogs. I did not notice any more animal prints though. I also observed that pale yellow leaves of American Beech trees were still clinging on to their branches and that the coniferous trees were still full and withstanding the harsh winter winds. Usually when I visit Potash I hunt for cool mushrooms and photograph them, however due to the depth of the snow, I could not find any. This visit was the coldest of the ones that I have taken to the brook, but it was also one of the most interesting to me because of how the snow and ice had altered the environment.
