Ice Report at Black Cat Is. South
There is about a 4 inch thickness of ice to the south of Black Cat Island, and the open spots that were present earlier in the week have re-frozen. The ice is a mix of black ice and snow ice, and the upper 2 inches are very soft in many areas. There is also about an inch of water on top of the ice in many places, that now is re-freezing. Stepping on it causes a disconcerting crack and sinking feeling, but only to the main ice below. However, with just three good whacks of the mountaineering axe, I got through to the lake. The areas of black ice do a much better job standing up to the axe.
As a precaution I tied myself to the shore with a climbing rope, wore a life vest, secured the mountaineering axe's wrist leash, and cranked the wood stove way up before I went out, "just in case." It felt like overkill until I got out there and saw the ease with which the ice broke (in some places).
One family did venture out much farther, on an area of mainly black ice between Black Cat and Hull Island - see photo.
As temperatures hover around 15 degrees, the main pack is cracking and booming loudly. Looking down towards Rattlesnake I can see heat ripples in the air above the ice, a good sign that it's thickening even more.
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