North Bend’s Kaylyn Messer captured images and video of a rare phenomenon.
Over the weekend a near-perfect circle of ice rotated slowly in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.
It was a mesmerizing sight for those who found it in the river, and for others, who found it in viral videos online.
After seeing a post about the ice circle on social media, Kaylyn Messer, 32, drove out to document the naturally created sight on Saturday from a bridge on Forest Road 5600. Messer, who lives in nearby North Bend and studied photojournalism in college, captured some of the best images of the ice circle, which was created by slow-moving water and cold temperatures.
“It was a very meditative thing to watch. It was just kind of like a record spinning on a player after a song was done,” Messer said. “I think that’s why I ended up staying for a couple of hours.”
Messer said it was very quiet, but she could hear small cracks forming in the ice disk.
She learned from social media Sunday that the ice circle had broken up and disappeared, though its temporary beauty was preserved.