The Ice Slough is actually a small, subsurface tributary that drains into the Sweetwater. A variety of marsh grasses and related tufted marsh plants, known as sedges, form a patchwork of surface plant life. Water flowing underneath this peat-like vegetation freezes solid in the winter and remains frozen during the spring and early summer, thanks to the insulating peat. In the 1840s it a was a key step on the Oregon Trail as travelers made their way west up the Sweetwater River valley. Because the place was such a novelty, many, many travelers wrote about it. In spring and early summer, some described a layer of peaty plant life floating on a layer of heavily alkaline water, under which lay the ice—clear, sweet, thick and good tasting. (Jeffrey City, Wyoming, USA)
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