Mud Season: Reflections
March, 2004
I must admit that mud season is my least favorite time of year. It is a transition from snow covered trails and roads to ice, mud, frost heaves, and the beginnings of pot holes.
Oh the jarring, tooth grinding, head-hitting-the-roof-lining-of-the-car (don’t drive if your bladder is full) action of those massive frost heaves. This phenomenon is the first indication that winter has lost its grip. Even newly paved roads succumb to the thawing and re-freezing of the ground underneath as the temperatures warm during the day and drop drastically at night, heaving the road surface at weak joints in the road bed.
At the same time the roads are heaving, the snow on the trails gradually melts leaving behind a sheer layer of ice. The surface ice eventually melts and the ground is exposed. The now muddy trails seem solid, but may be heaved up unbeknownst to the casual walker, and a false step may leave you with your leg a foot below the trail surface. Talk about a body wrenching experience.
The only good thing about mud season is that it leads to Springtime in Maine.
