Vermont Public Radio has been talking about the coming of spring.
The locals here are talking about spring. Evidently there was mud somewhere on the Albany Road. The Albany (ice) Road up the West Coast is good only as long as it remains completely frozen.
For our reference: The first Easter I was here was March 31, 2002. I arrived on Saturday, the day before Easter, and left on the Wednesday following Easter. In 2002, Bobby brought me from the airport in Moosonee to Moose Factory in his pickup truck. The road was not perfect, but we got through without incident.
The problem with the ice roads, as Spring develops, is that the surface deteriorates. At the very beginning of breakup, a vehicle is not going to go through the ice. The ice is much too thick to be dangerous. BUT, a vehicle will eventually get mired in the soft ice, water, and slush that lie on TOP of the ice. The quality of the road here (across The Moose River) also is affected by the tides. As spring develops, the road is worse at high tide, and better at low tide. The difference can be such that cars, for instance, just can’t safely cross The River, but skidoos can — at high tide.
That is what happened for Bobby and me on the Wednesday right after Easter. The road was not safe that day — or that moment of that day — for vehicles. We used Bobby’s skidoo.
When the ice has deteriorated further, of course, the day comes when a vehicle CAN go through the ice. For this reason, the heavier the vehicle, the less willing the driver is to stop — for anything. Also, if a vehicle DOES get stuck in the muck above the (solid) ice, the pressure is on to get it moving and out of there just as soon as possible.
THIS year, the road remains firm — or was yesterday, when I made a crossing — and retrieved the Church Van from the garage — after nearly five weeks of repairs….. The night before last the temperature had gone down to just below 0 degrees (Fahrenheit). There was no mud on any of the roads on Moose Factory Island or in Moosonee. The ice was firm on the ice road — no water, no slush.
But the sun was out, and the temperature climbed up to freezing — and maybe a hair above. By late afternoon, there were several stretches of road on The Island developing stretches of mud and slush.
If we had had 0 degree temperatures last night, all the roads would have become firm once more. But last night the temps went down only to 25 degrees. It takes a zero reading to keep the status quo.
So, Spring is coming. But this year, it’s late and it’s slow.