You Should See The Funky Snow Mushroom in Hampden Before it Melts

Early spring can be, well... Unexpected.

If you ask most Mainers, and maybe New Englanders in general, what they love most about living where do, is the seasons. I know when we leave our safe space here in New England and go to other places, the chief reason for returning is that they actually missed seeing the seasonal changes. Especially fall and winter.

One season we always kind of hate though, is right now. Where it's not really winter anymore, but it also doesn't really feel like Spring. I think most of us call it mud season. But in this transition, you can seem some truly odd, if not strangely beautiful things. For instance... the unpredictability of melting ice and snow.

The melt can be beautiful or treacherous.

Sometimes all the melting snow means yard floods and pools. Sometimes it means water comes in the basement. Sometimes the snow and ice melt into curious creations. I found just such a treasure in Hampden in the little turnaround just past Back Winterport Road on the Kennebec Road. The locals know exactly where I'm describing. I'm not even sure what that weird little spot is for, but it's been there for decades.

The snow bank has been melting, and it's left behind this huge 5ft tall snow/ice mushroom. I spied it while I was driving the other day and had to stop and grab a couple photos. It's like a giant stem with a huge cap on top, right out of Alice in Wonderland. All it was missing was a smoking caterpillar.

Judging by the temps that are on the way next, you may wanna boogie over there if you wanna see it before it melts. As of Easter Sunday it was still there. But by Thursday when it's hitting 70+ degrees, it can't last much longer. But it's definitely worth a peek if you're headed over that way...

More totally rad ice formations from other Mainers...