Glacières; or, Freezing Caverns

by Edwin Swift Balch

There was nothing in either glacière, to show that the ice was formed from any other cause than the drifting in, and melting and refreezing of the winter’s snow; and my impression is that the ice in the second glacière could not last through the summer.

THE SNOW HOLE NEAR WILLIAMSTOWN.

The Snow Hole near Williamstown (Massachusetts) is situated near the northern end of the Petersburgh Mountain of the Taghconic Range; it is slightly below the watershed on the Williamstown side, at an altitude of about seven hundred meters. The Snow Hole is in the State of New York, near the boundary between New York and Massachusetts. It is a long two hours’ drive from Williamstown, the last four kilometers or so, over an exceedingly steep and rough road, which is, in fact, nothing but an old logging road, and the worst I ever drove over except the road to Démenyfálva.

I visited the Snow Hole with my brother on Friday, September the 29th, 1899. It is surrounded by a dense forest, mainly of recent growth, which thoroughly shelters it from all winds. In shape and appearance it resembles the Gorge at Ellenville, except that it is smaller: its location on the ridge is not unlike that of the Friedrichsteiner Eishöhle. It is a narrow crack—or cave minus a roof—about fifteen meters long, six to seven meters deep and from two to five meters wide. It faces nearly north, and the bottom is in perpetual shadow. From the northern end, a gentle slope leads to the rear. The slope was a good deal blocked up by a big tree with large branches, which had fallen directly into the fissure. There was some moss or greenish mould on the rocks in places, and at the rear end of the slope there were some fissures in the rocks, into which one might perhaps have crawled a little farther, which formed a tiny cave. There was also a similar incipient cave at the northern end. I could not detect any draughts issuing from these rock fissures, and the air throughout was still, although the wind was blowing hard on the ridge. The rocks were moist in places and the air damp, but there was neither snow nor ice and the temperatures were normal. The driver told me that he had found plenty of snow in the base of the gorge some years ago in July; and he said that he had always heard that snow was found in the Snow Hole all the year round. All the conditions of the place, the shape of the fissure, and its sheltered northern exposition, are favorable to the retention of ice and snow, and it is not surprising that they remain over every spring.

ICY GULF NEAR GREAT BARRINGTON.

The Icy Gulf or Icy Glen is some eight kilometers from Great Barrington, Massachusetts. I have not been in it, but was told in October, 1899, by the farmers living near by, that after snowy winters, ice remains over through July. It must be similar to the Icy Glen at Stockbridge.

THE ICE BED OF WALLINGFORD.

The Ice Bed of Wallingford is situated about three kilometers to the east of Wallingford, Vermont. A drive of half an hour, over the Mount Holly and Hearburrow roads, takes the visitor to the entrance of a rough wood path, which, at a distance of three or four hundred meters, leads to the Ice Bed. This is a huge talus, at the base of the White Rock Mountain, whose cliffs rise steeply overhead for some three or four hundred meters. The talus, which was doubtless formed by a great slide at some distant date, consists of granite boulders, some of which are big ones. The ice-bearing portion may be some thirty or forty meters high vertically. It lies in a sort of gully or rock basin, and at the top is about thirty meters broad, tapering to a point at the bottom. The talus faces southward, and during a good part of the day the sun shines full upon it. A thin forest fringes the sides and grows round the bottom, but this can afford but little protection from the winds, especially to those from the south.

I visited this place on the 5th of October, 1899. There was a distinct drop in temperature as we neared the base of the talus, and a cool air drew gently down over the rocks. I think slight draughts issued from some of the crevices; but of this I am not sure. The temperature was sub-normal, about 8°, but hardly low enough to prove the presence of ice, although we could see our breaths distinctly. We looked carefully under a number of the boulders, but neither ice nor snow was visible. I was assured that ice was abundant there in the past July and August, and I should think it had melted away only shortly before my visit. My impression is, that this is a periodic glacière.