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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Winter Camping and Activities :: Ice conditions on Snowbank & Disappointment?
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| Author | Message Text | ||
| Ho Ho |
I haven't been out on Snowbank or Disappointment, but I've been on several smaller lakes around Ely recently, so since no one else has answered, here's what I've found. Generally speaking, there is now a hard crust of snow and frozen slush on top of any watery slush on the local lakes, so even though there probably is a lot of wet slush further down, you can generally pass right over it without problems. But I have broken through the crust two times recently, once last Saturday skiing across Coxey pond, and just today walking on little Hanson Lake, which is outside the BW north of Ely. When I was skiing on Coxey my boot and ski when in over my ankles, and there was a lot of slush to scrape once I got onto a firmer surface. David and Piwi the dog were able to go around the spot without mishap. When I was walking on Hanson Lake today, my boot broke through the crust and I went up to mid thigh in very watery slush. This surprised me because I was just out on the same lake yesterday and it seemed very solid. So the upshot is it's generally very dry, but you have to be prepared for the possibility of breaking through, possibly without warning. You could also give Smitty's on Snowbank a call to find out how things are out there, they maintain an ice road on the lake and have lots of customers fishing it right now. |
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| Cedarleaf |
Headed up tomorrow. Trying to assess if these lakes are really slushy, etc. Thanks! |