And then......

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The ice finally came. We woke to a still, serene scene. The waves now silenced until spring, that delicious quiet enveloped me. I love that moment, when the lake first freezes, and all I can hear is the silence and stillness.

The surface near shore is pebbled and rough. Further out, it's all white, but probably from frost and not snow.

But a surprise awaited us around the point. To the northeast, not quite halfway out, a large open lead still remained. The blue stripe lapped and rippled, still open and free. By tomorrow, we expect to see it undercover as well.

What a magical time, to see the lake go from its churning and waving, and overnight, it has been silenced.

And the Snow Just Keeps Coming

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Yesterday was a long day. We worked most of it out at the cabin, trying to get the remodel to come together. We were waiting for a delivery of more materials, and then we heard that the delivery guy couldn't make it all the way up to our place. It had been snowing for several hours, and time was running out for him. So he left our stuff at Bearskin Lodge. That was fine, but it was dark by the time we left to go pick it up. And it continued to snow.

By the time we had loaded it all up and headed back towards home, it was six-thirty. Unloading took another half-hour, and then we gobbled a quick dinner. At that point, the plow guy told me that he needed to go out and take care of one of his contracts. So off we went to plow the Mile O Pine road. I rode along for the fun of it. Greg tells me that plowing is fun, and I wanted to see for myself.

It is really cool to see all of that snow in the headlights, and then to watch it heap up and cascade over the plow. Then he pushed it all into a magnificent pile in a strategic spot on the roadside. I must say, I was impressed. What was even more amazing, though, was that at one point, he started to slow way way down, and then he said, "There is a rock right about here." And of course, at that very moment, the plow hit a rock. That can only come with years of experience. This looks like one of those years that will only add to his experience. When asked in town today how much snow we have, I said that we must be going on at least twenty inches by now. I haven't had time to go tromping into the woods, but I expect that when we go out to find a Christmas tree, we will be sinking in deep. Best snow year in a long time!

Ice and Snow

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About all of that ice in front of Diamond Willow cabin yesterday? Gone. The wind switched and took it all somewhere. Either that or it melted. When I went over this morning, only the thicker shelf of ice nearer to shore remained. This is really quite a process. I was thinking about how the water tends to almost look thicker as the ice-up draws near. Even though the viscosity doesn't change, it almost looks like it does. Yesterday it was displaying that. Today it is as wild and free and full of waves as ever.

As we walked past the beach to go eat lunch yesterday, the ice there was quite interesting. It was rather like folds. Greg stepped out on to it to explore it. For several days, we had seen the ice forming, but it did not have the rippled and folded texture to it. Since he was on his way to the boathouse to check on something stored there, he decided to continue along the shore on the new ice.

See that darker grey part towards the middle right of the photo? That ice is not as strong. Ask Greg how he found that out. He knew that it might be a little soft, and he could feel it as his boot went through. He also knew that the water was only about one foot deep in that spot. Now we know that the little bit of ice is still on the thin side, but we likely could have guessed that one.

It is snowing today, and so far we have collected about three inches or so. I'd say that we are getting close to the point when we will be able to start grooming the trails for skiing. Early snow makes a perfect base for skiing all winter long. Time to pull out the skis, boots and poles and hit the trails.