Breaking Ice

On Monday it had warmed again to the mid-40's, so after work I took the canoe out to Geisel creek for another try at making it down to Dunes Lake.  The snow had melted where I put-in on Saturday.  I ran into several patches where the creek was still froze for 50 or 60 feet, so I took a run at it, slideing the canoe upon the ice. Pushing my way across, I sometimes broke through. 

I wondered how well the varnish would hold up to being scraped  and crunched by the ice.  It sure made a lot of noise and sounded destructive.  I know from kayaking in brashe ice that it will take a toll on the hull,s fiberglass if you ram it too hard.  After about 45 minutes the last turn of the creek before Dunes Lake was in sight and I could hear red wing blackbirds singing and the crackly, rasping sound of Sand Hill Cranes.  Two Osprey were eating the remains of a half frozen fish out of the lake's ice as I came into view.

 

There was an open stretch, free of ice, so I let the wind blow us down the lake a ways, then just sat and enjoyed the sounds of spring.

I arrived back at the truck about dusk, feeling refreshed from being out On The Water.

Little did I know that two days later we would have the largest snowfall in 122 years and I would spend 3 hours shoveling snow.