I went for a drive yesterday, and as I often do, I stopped to take pictures of interesting things. I decided I’d do an informal “River Ice Report,” so I made sure to take lots of pictures of the local rivers, bridges, and the amount of ice on the water. Click on any pic for a larger version.

Ponton River

First, the Ponton River. It wasn’t flowing particularly fast, and didn’t have much ice near where Hwy 58 crosses it. Aaah, the sound of moving water makes me want to go exploring! [photo location]

Ponton River, facing South, from under the hwy bridge

Ponton River, facing North

For those of you unfamiliar with the Ponton, it flows out of the north end of Margaret Lake, one of many lakes found on the top plateau of the Caribou Mountains. The Ponton winds its way north for a little while, then turning southwest until it bends southeast and joins the Boyer River, which then flows into the Peace River about 8 km downstream of Fort Vermilion. In fact, the Boyer/Peace confluence was the site of a very old fur trading post, established before the one at Fort Vermilion. I haven’t found the site yet, as it seems to be at the end of private roads. I will explore it from the water as soon as I have a chance!

If you dream of paddling the Ponton, you’d better call us soon; it’s a spring-runoff river, with water levels dropping very low later in the summer.

Boyer River

There’s a bridge across the Boyer River on hwy 58, north of the Peace River bridge. The Boyer was flowing very nicely, and I was tempted to get my kayak and go! I would have, if there weren’t icebergs still on the Peace. Running into them at the confluence wouldn’t be a lot of fun… [photo location]

The Boyer River, facing West

The Boyer River, facing E, peeking under the bridge

The Peace River

Since the latest ice report for the Peace River was April 7 (and the last photos of the year from the air April 6), here’s more up-to-date, albeit very local report. At the Hwy 58 bridge crossing, the ice is still essentially shore-to-shore, with a little space (less than 2 feet) of free water along the edges. It looks translucent, and thinning.

Ice on the Peace River, at the hwy 58 bridge. Don't do as I did, shooting out the window of a car moving 100 km/hr!

There was quite a stretch of open water (or mostly open, except for a little ice along the edge) near Atlas Landing. [photo location]

Peace River, Atlas Landing, facing SE

Peace River, Atlas Landing, facing NW, from the top of the hill

Peace River, Atlas Landing, facing SE, from the water level