Trail: Ohio and Erie Towpath Trail
Trailhead: Canal Fulton, Ohio
Miles: 2
Date: February 20, 2022
Some weather background to these unique scenes: A couple days ago we got 1.5 inches of rain, which melted the 12+ inches of snow that was on the ground. Needless to say, a lot of the local streams overflowed their banks, including the Tuscarawas River. And then yesterday, the temperatures fell precipitately, so all that water froze quickly.
I got about a mile onto the trail before running into impassible water, but not before seeing a number of wondrous sights. Water that had flash-froze while still flowing. Thin sheets of ice seemingly levitated above the riverbank. Miniature icicles dangling from low-hanging tree branches.
I was lucky to show up when I did, because the temperature was rising quickly just as I was leaving. When I pulled into the Olde Muskingum trailhead (the park I normally park at was completely flooded), it was a bitter 25 degrees, but when I left it had already surpassed 40 degrees. No doubt many of those delicate ice formations have already melted away.
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/water-flash-frozen.jpg)
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ice-formations-2-20-22-1024x576.jpg)
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mini-icicles-1024x576.jpg)
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tuscarawas-river-1024x576.jpg)
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/flooded-st-helena-park-1024x576.jpg)
![](https://insidethecomp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/flooded-trail-1024x576.jpg)