Ice Tube?

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post how the stream in Little Cottonwood Canyon is greatly diminished during the winter months when the annual snow-melt is finished and when most of the remaining water is diverted into the local cities’ water reservoirs.  To take these pictures from the front angle, I was stepping/crouching on rocks that were in the middle of the stream bed.  You can tell from the pictures that the stream is not flowing with any significant force or quantity of water.  During the rush of the snow-melt months, the stream is usually flowing with several thousands of cubic meters of water per minute…and it would be impossible to capture pictures from the middle of the stream during those times.

When I first saw the ice formation from the side of the stream, it appeared to just be a bunch of ice that had formed near the flow of water.  The closer I was able to make it to the actual waterfall, the more I could see that ice had formed in the shape of a tunnel or tube and the water was channeling through it from the rock above and into the little pool beneath…another crazy little marvel of nature…and a beautiful one at that.

It seems that the flow on the left is forming another tube…with the outer edges eventually coming together to completely enclose the water channel…maybe.  It would be interesting to return in a few weeks and see if it happened…provided nothing destroys it in the interim.

This last picture is my favorite….