Fluid, frozen, frosty and fractalized. Water is the ultimate winter shape-shifter. WyoFile readers captured its many forms in images submitted to our Cold Snap Challenge. 

Cache Creek after a snowstorm. (Susan Marsh)

Sometimes it’s a steely creek burbling past banks freshly piled in snow. Or a river current chugging through crusts that have melted and refrozen. 

Melting icicles form frozen circles on the surface of Dry Creek west of Crowheart. (Laney Hicks)

Sometimes condensation and temperature conspire to create odd sculptures of ice near the water’s surface.  

Ice sculptures encase branches in Cache Creek near Jackson. (Susan Marsh)

And often it’s snow itself, perfectly crystalized into frozen flakes.

Snow piles on wooden fence posts between Cody and Powell. (Anne Hay)

Do you have a striking photo of winter in Wyoming? Submit high-resolution entries to WyoFile’s Cold Snap Challenge by emailing them to editor@wyofile.com under the subject line “Winter photos.” Be sure to tell us when and where the images were taken. We’ll gather the images and publish our favorites through the winter.

Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She’s been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has...

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  1. Love “Flowing and Frozen!” Thanks for including this input from readers and people with a good eye for winter in Wyoming.

    Reply