Trips: Shenandoah Rime Ice 2017

The highest elevations of Shenandoah were covered in some of the thickest rime ice I have ever seen.  Rime ice is created when fog freezes on trees and branches, making it look like it had snowed.  

Skyline Drive is surrounded by a heavy rime ice, and shrouded in fog.
Rime Ice On Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive is surrounded by a heavy rime ice, and shrouded in fog. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Rime Ice Coats the final fall leaves of a witch hazel.
Witch Hazel on Ice

Rime Ice Coats the final fall leaves of a witch hazel. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Heavy rime ice layered on autumn's grasses.
Heavy Rime Grasses

Heavy rime ice layered on autumn's grasses. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Rime ice, formed when fog freezes, coats the trees along Skyline Drive.
Fog and Ice

Rime ice, formed when fog freezes, coats the trees along Skyline Drive. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Encased in ice, a few lone oak leaves remember their last flutter.
Oak and Ice

Encased in ice, a few lone oak leaves remember their last flutter. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Rime Ice weighs down the pines especially as every needle is coated in heavy ice.
Rime Ice on Pines

Rime Ice weighs down the pines especially as every needle is coated in heavy ice. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Layers of fog drift across the upper reaches of Stony Man Mountain in Shenandoah National Park.  Across the mountain, many of...
Layers on Stony Man Mountain

Layers of fog drift across the upper reaches of Stony Man Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. Across the mountain, many of the remaining fall leaves have become encased in ice as temperatures drop well below freezing. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Frozen fog coats a heavy icy embrace.
Ice Oak Sculpture

Frozen fog coats a heavy icy embrace. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

Sumac are both among the most colorful of fall's colors and some of the last to drop their leaves.
Frozen Sumac

Sumac are both among the most colorful of fall's colors and some of the last to drop their leaves. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

A lone pine, coated in heavy rime ice, stands along as Skyline Drive.
Icy Pine

A lone pine, coated in heavy rime ice, stands along as Skyline Drive. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

I am always intrigued by the more intimate details of our landscapes that often get overlooked.  Here is an intimate portrait...
Icy Abstract

I am always intrigued by the more intimate details of our landscapes that often get overlooked. Here is an intimate portrait of the forest's edge, coated in heavy ice, frozen in time. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

As tempting as it is to travel through the frozen land, it is even more rewarding to walk through the ice-covered understory....
Frozen Understory

As tempting as it is to travel through the frozen land, it is even more rewarding to walk through the ice-covered understory. Every branch, trig, grass is coated in ice. At the same time there is a steady sound of creaking and cracking, as the branches strive to bend in the wind but cannot, and as ice cascades. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

The golden leaves of fall from a witch hazel are frozen in time in a heavy layer of frozen fog, rime ice.   The ice seems to...
Witch Hazel Close Up

The golden leaves of fall from a witch hazel are frozen in time in a heavy layer of frozen fog, rime ice. The ice seems to promise a perpetual life, preservation, but is illusory. The ice weakens and when it melts these leaves too will fall. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

The fall leaves of a witch hazel hang on,  preserved for the time in a heavy layer of rime ice.
Hanging On

The fall leaves of a witch hazel hang on, preserved for the time in a heavy layer of rime ice. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

A heavy layer of rime ice coats every tree and branch.  It is a precarious time to hike.  Tree limbs will fall, large and small...
Rime Ice on Appalachian Trail

A heavy layer of rime ice coats every tree and branch. It is a precarious time to hike. Tree limbs will fall, large and small. Chunks of ice will fall. The sound is actually quite loud, as the ice breaks and limbs crack. It is no time to linger in these woods. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

In most seasons, there is little reason to notice the trees that grace Fisher Gap Overlook, but, covered in rime ice, they demand...
Fisher's Gap Under Ice

In most seasons, there is little reason to notice the trees that grace Fisher Gap Overlook, but, covered in rime ice, they demand attention in their own right. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.

The understory across from Fisher Gap encased in rime ice.
Fisher Gap Rime Ice

The understory across from Fisher Gap encased in rime ice. Photo © copyright by Ed Fuhr.