Updates for Walking on the Lake
 

For those of us wanting to get to our island properties and facing hours of driving to get up to the lake, we need information as to if we should attempt it or not. I am starting this thread because I've seen mentions of ice conditions throughout other threads but still haven't seen many answers to direct questions about walking in certain areas. I understand that no one can ever make blanket safety statements and that we all must assume that responsibility personally. What I am hoping this thread can do is to provide information from people on the lake from their first hand experience so that those of us hours away can use that to make better decisions.

My question is has anyone walked from Harilla's over to the point between Little Bear and Long Island and over to Whottleberry or Little Bear Island and do you think it would be worth trying it this weekend given testing the ice appropriately along the way?

Last week end their were trucks on the ice between Cow and Wortleberry, I don't know if any body drove a truck through the area you mention ( it's called Sara's point) I know my son came through with his sled he said their is an ice ridge at the buoy. We are on Cow facing Tuftonboro neck , we have about 12" of ice. They high temps have probably made it very slushy you will need good boots with no holes and possible cleats. we will be out this weekend on the snowmobiles if the slush isn't to bad

I can't imagine that area wouldn't be safe, of course I wouldn't go anywhere I wasn't sure about. Most of the lake other than the pesky areas mentioned in the ice in thread has been locked up for several weeks now, or longer. I think for your travels the ice rifts would be the only areas of concern. I buzzed out to my place on Big Bear from Levitt beach by sled and there were tons of people out and about on sleds and ATVs. Not so much in trucks but ya know there has been lots of fluctuation in the ice formation, but I can tell you there is close to 20" of ice in front of my place and that area was comprised of large ice sheets and open water leading up to the first big cold snap. Should be a beautiful weekend to be out there, just be careful and if you are unsure check the ice as you go! Hope you make it out there. I'm thinking I may overnight it at my place this weekend.

FYI 3-6" of snow is predicted Friday night into Saturday, so walking out there is going to be a good workout considering the snow already out there.

awesome info. thanks so much
 

Thanks to both of you for this info. Can you educate me on the dangers of an ice riff?

Also refereed to as a Pressure Ridge. When ice freezes, it expands and the ice will "Buckle" (Crack) and expand upwards forming a kind of wall. The ice on either side of the wall, which can be over three feet high in some places, will usually have some water along it which will makes it treacherous to walk near. Near the wall, some of the ice will depress downward and water underneath will "Well Up" and "Pond" on top of the ice. At the very least, water on Top of the ice will make it VERY slippery.

Some times you may have to walk parallel along the wall for some distance to find a flat section of ice to cross from one side of the wall to the other. WET Snow near the wall is a danger sign. :D NB

When you get two ice flows comming togeather they cause the ridge or push. they tend to create some open water and soft spots. I was on the lake most of last week around your area i found a few soft spots around the islands so i would walk with a chipper and check the ice depths as you walk out. I have seen the ice change from a foot to six inches in certain places. Its getting thin around big barn door and i was only on two inches of ice at rattlesnake the other day. Closer to moultonboro all the islands had at least a foot around them and there was some open water around little beaver. Dont hold me to the ice conditions there changing by the day. Good luck and be safe.

Stay away from the hole in the wall between little Bear and Devan's it never freezes well. any time you have a large area that goes into a small area you have a current which means thin or no ice

Definitely stay away from the Hole in The Wall. I used to live there, and I can tell you, that many people would come to us in the summer and say thanks. If it weren't for the canoe on the rack (17 ft), we don't know how we would have got "Joe" out of the water. It may look OK, but it's NEVER been safe!

Last weekend, on the north end of Little Bear, there was a snowmobile half buried in the ice between the flashing light marker and Little Bear, opposite East Cove. Supposedly it was really slushy there and the sled got stuck and broke though.

Also heard a 4 wheeler went to the bottom in the same area, but closer to the Long Island side.

Did see a lot of snowmobiles passing between Long Island and Little Bear, could be a pressure ridge in this area and these two vehicle hit the wrong spot.

We were out this past weekend on the sleds on the West side of Long Island, Braun Bay, and the Kona area and the ice fishermen we stopped to ask along the way all said 12 inches or more of ice. There were a few small presssure ridges to watch out for (south end of LI and over near 5 mile Is) but didn't see any thin spots with them. There were lots of sleds, ATV's and trucks way out in front of Trexlers/LI beach area. I saw some sleds further out from LI closer to steamboat but that area was open water not to long ago so we stayed away from that and stayed closer to the LI shore line that had been locked in longer.

I hope that helps some but like others have said many times its been an odd year for how it froze so continue to be cautious out there.

Skimming
 

If I understand it correctly.."Skimming" is Against The Law.

Skimming is the practice of driving a Snow Mobile (Sled) across Open Water. I would think that being "Proficient" in this SKILL would be a Safety Asset. But alas......How does one practice this safety procedure......without getting Locked Up. Just wondering. :look: NB

Here's an ice rift that is formed along the shore near my place. Thing you have to be careful of is that when they form - the ice around them becomes fractured and unstable, and heaves therefore is inherently unsafe. I've seen openings in the ice around them as well so always approach them with due caution. Here are a few pics to show you what I mean...

AWESOME Photo's

Thanks MAXUM



.

Maxum, thank you for the pictures. Can't help but notice when you posted them? Hope you weren't awake worrying about us falling through like I was last night. Now I know what to look for - I've never seen anything like that before.

Nah only thing that would have me up at that hour is work or can't sleep. Happens to be the latter of the two, nursing a spinal problem (blown discs) and it's been difficult to get more than a couple hours of sleep at night. Killer I tell ya, but hey what else is there to do at 4:00 AM? :rolleye2:

Have a safe walk out if you go.

We walked over to Little Bear this morning. Glad we had snow shoes on as the walk was fairly easy with them on. it is definitely scarier walking on snow when you can't see the ice. With these cold temps, i hope it just means thicker ice tomorrow. The cottage was 20 degrees inside but just getting out of the wind made it feel balmy. It took 4 hours and a roaring fire in the stove to get it up to 60 degrees. Still, it is so beautiful and peaceful so worth a few hours of chill. Thanks again for all the info from everyone. The walk back tomorrow with the wind in our faces will be a lot rougher if the wind doesn't die down.

Practice make perfect!
 

Why during the summer of course!

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Walked from Harilla to Cow yesterday. No problem. Snow was packed down so it was easy to walk. Stay away from the hole in the wall- its open water.

Also the ice around the tip of long island facing sandy/ragged is pretty thin.

Minge Cove to Rattlesnake
 

We snow-shoed out to our Cabin on the southern end of Rattlesnake on Monday, leaving from Minge Cove. A mix of crusty snow, 4 - 6" and bare ice. We drilled here and there (thanks for the advise on the drills) as we crossed, never finding less than 6 inches. Small pressure ridge from Treasure Isl towards Alton Bay. Only saw two sleds the whole day, where is everyone?

There must have been some serious drifting flows coming in from the east; thick slabs of ice piled up along the Broads side of the island. Appeared to have had a lot of fun with our dock, popping it up like a bottle cap. Didn't have the time (or energy) to check on other properties along the Broads. Hope everyone faired well.

Is anyone able to comment on conditions between Rattlesnake Landing or West Alton Marina sandbar to Sleepers Island?

Thanks

Anyone have any updates on walking out to Bear? My brothers and I are planning to trek out to south Bear next weekend. Our house is more or less directly across the water from Cattle Landing, but I've heard that they have a bubbler around the new dock there, so we'd probably try to get onto the ice a few hundred feet north.
Also, any information about snow depth on the ice/on the islands? I know earlier in the season it was pretty bare, but I'm guessing with the recent storm (and maybe a few more inches before next weekend), it might be pretty deep, and we don't have snow shoes.

I wasn't out on that part today but we were out on the sleds just a bit North and East of you on the lake and there is very deep snow with lots of spots that have alot of slush as well. The ice is thick where we have been but with another storm coming Wed and Thur you might want to pick up some snow shoes or something to help with getting out there.

We spent Saturday and Sunday on the Island.
My wife walked with the dog from Cattle to our place on the south past Church Cove. You can park at Cattle and get on the ice just south of the dock, it was a little slushy adjacent to the dock but passable by foot.
I launched the snowmobile at Sheps and was able to get on the ice at the far end past the Showroom building.
There was a good 10 inches on the island prior to Sunday, by the time we left on Sunday there was another 8-10 inches of new snow. The trek back for my wife took a little longer. I went back and forth with the snowmobile 5-6 times to pack a trail but with the new snow slush was becoming an issue.
Looks like more snow coming before this weekend.
Good Luck.

I'd second the snowshoes. Temps were near 40 the last 2 days and a lot of melting has been going on. I'm not sure about other areas but all of Paugus Bay looked to be a combination of snow and water with what looked like cracks in the ice and water coming up through. 6-12 inches of heavy wet snow coming and temps again near 40 Thursday and Friday will put even more liquid on top of the ice.
I also noticed that open areas around docks gave gotten huge in the last few days.

Did you get an update? How bad is the ice around here and has anyone gone to the broads side?:D

I think Tavern 27 rents snow shoes. I had never used snow shoes before but really was glad we had them two weeks ago when we walked across the ice for about a mile to our cottage.

Crossed @ Cattle landing on Thursday 2/28-to Bear Island -beautiful sunny day temps climbed to low 40's. Snow shoe was tricky from the mainland & slushy in places coming back from the island- the shore access is melting quickly with temps expected up in 40's over weekend might be able to snow shoe across again.

Snow Shoeing to Cattle Landing
 

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif Bodhi, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.
Thanks for posting the info about hoofing it over from Cattle Landing to Bear Island as I'm sure others would like to know.:)

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I think I'm done with the ice this year. Be careful out there!

Probably not a bad idea. I'm driving daily to Black Cat and in the last 2 weeks an awful lot of shoreline around the lake is water. The ice is retreating out fast, the hole at the boat launch in Meredith is looking very big now as is the areas around the docks and where the river comes in.
I'd like to be around to watch all those bob houses come off. Something tells me by this weekend the ice all along that shore is going to be very thin.