Near Death Experience on the North shore

Each spring and fall I take a weekend trip to the north shore to plein air paint. Usually I head to Grand Marais but with the spring being colder than normal I stayed in Duluth. There is still snow on the ground but the temps were warm. This is a time for me to get out into the north woods and paint. I paint from sun up to sun down, and sometimes after dark. I shoot for 4 to 5 paintings a day.
Usually the most interesting event is having a moose cross my path or getting lost on an old forest road. This year was different.
Friday around noon I headed to Gooseberry falls to paint. I think this was the first time I have ever painted there. I have visited countless times but try to find quieter places to paint. I set up just below the middle falls. If you have been to the park you will know the spot with the board walk and rock wall that is the main viewing area of the middle falls. I took the stairs down below the viewing area to the river level. All through the park are signs warning of dangerous river ice. I surveyed the spot I set up to make sure I would be safe. I was on ice but it didn't appear that there was flowing water below it. Five feet ahead of me (visible in the painting) was where the river cut through the ice. It was only about five feet wide at that spot.
While I was painting a gentleman asked if he could take my picture. He explained that he was from the Duluth Tribune and just happened to be visiting the park. He took a dozen or so photos and thanked me. I painted for an hour and a half until I was nearly finished when I heard a distant boom. Kind of like thunder but almost like an explosion. I took notice but didn't think too much about it. A couple of minutes later the roar of the river doubled and it started to rise rapidly. Ice chunks tumbled with the current. What was a five foot wide stream was now filling the entire area in front of my easel. I jumped back, grabbed my back pack and watched as the water was up to the front leg of my easel. As I go to grab my easel I heard several more booms. This really shook me. I thought if I don't grab the easel my painting weekend will end abruptly with my paints, brushes and easel floating down the Gooseberry to Lake Superior. As I pulled the easel up to the stairs I watched the river fully engulf the area that five minutes earlier I was standing on. The flow of water and ice chunks rose to a depth of over 6 feet above the spot I was painting at. My heart was pounding as I stood at the viewing area watching in awe at the river.
It hit me that if I would have set up a little further on the ice or not heard the booms the headline with the photos the photographer took of me would have read quite different.
From "Artists paints the melting Gooseberry River" to "Last picture taken of artist before engulfed by river".
To see the Duluth News Tribune Article. (there is a photo of my painting in the photos area)
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/thunder-and-rage-gooseberry-river-shakes-winter-ice-photos-video

My easel after I pulled it from the River. It was set up down below the two trees where the water is now. This is after the first boom.

The tan strip in my painting is where the river was when before the boom.

After the second set of booms. Where the stairs end and to the left is where I was set up. The river has engulfed the whole area.

The viewing area above where I painted.