from Sharon

Hi Everyone.....

The latest update on the ice road is........Leonard was out last night and punched the road from Treaty - south side to Queer Island. It appears to be approx 16" of ice in most spots that he checked.
The landing at Strawberry was "mushy" as it didn't appear that the ground had any frost in it. Hopefully this will tighten up with the cooler weather.
There is not a road into........Moore Bay, French Narrows, yet.
Today, Leonard is out trying to clear off Treaty Is and then punch the road from town to Treaty. This is always a little difficult due to snow machines packing the snow down.
He is going to "try" and put in driveways, and hopefully over to Skrypek's today.

I hope the snow we are supposed to get does not hinder the process going on, but who knows.
If there are any questions or concerns, give me a call 467-7684 or email.

Happy New Year Everyone and stay safe!!

Sharon

Merry Christmas

Hi you'all ,,, hope everyone is doing fine ,,, and are we the only people praying for colder weather in Canada ??? it's been to dam nice ??? pt

Treaty Island

There is no road over Treaty or anywhere else yet!! The locals on Coney have used quads to plow from Ministry Landing to Coney. I have not heard of any trucks running that area.The hairpin @ Queer where you bump over the rocks and before were you would turn left to head into Andrew Bay only has 5" ice. I have been snowmobiling this route but not enough for a vehicle.

from Sharon and Ray posted by PT

Hi Everyone......

Just a quick note to give you an update on the ice conditions to date. Leonard has been out and attempted to do some plowing, but dropped part of his truck in at Gages Landing. He said the ice of course was not good there and at Strawberry.

There are individuals out there either by snowmachine, and the odd truck, but of course they all drive at their own risk. Snowmachine seems fine, but not with a vehicle yet. There is anywhere from 8" to 10" .

Rick Jackson drove his vehicle to his place and went via 12 mile following in other truck tracks. Some plowing is apparently going on down by Wolf Island, not by Leonard.

At this point, Leonard will not be attempting to plow again until after Christmas. Will keep everyone posted. If anyone has any further info to share, please contact me.

Sharon

Ice has Stalled

We have 7" @ our landing BUT still only 5" @ Queer.
Had 3" fresh snow over the weekend-On todays trip to Bare Point by sled conditions were sunny,calm -15c and the fresh snow was sparkling--awesome ride.
For the trip home we brought our CRV from Bare Point over 12 Mile Portage and down here. Good trip- slush coming up in the cracks in places. Counted 2 ice shacks and several groups of fisherman in our travels. Still no sign of any plowing on this side of the lake but have heard they are plowing Welcome Channel area.

Lake

Checked this morning-sitting 6.5" ice. We went by sled over to TeePee Island yesterday and crosed a couple snowmobile tracks and a couple truck tracks, coming over 12 Mile Portage.Other than that pretty quiet down here!!

ice fishing

Went ice fishing and all I caught were these 2 blocks. The one on the right was from the area @ our landing I have been checking all along-now sitting @ 6".
The one on the left was from only 200' away-both are same depth-no explanation as to why it would be thicker?? A good reason to allow for a little "pucker factor".
A friend was fishing near Wolf Island in the Manitou and said they had 7" ice there.

Made it to Bare Point!!

Left here by sled and followed last years ice road. The least amounts of ice were my landing @ 5" and the hairpin curve @ Queer Island 5". The average was 8" and even had a couple spots @ 10"(dam Queer Island!!)
The only tracks in the snow were Deer,Wolf and the Lunny's@Scotty's Island. From Bare Point back down to Strawberry Portage and headed East into Moore Bay again 8" on this route-then hopped over Hay Island Portage and only 6" in that bay of Bigstone. But as you get closer to Copper Island back to 8". Back to Moore Bay Lodge and out the back way to Andrew Bay and over the 2 Portages @ Bottle Bay-again 8"
By this time the chain saw had been idling/running for over 1Hr. So I had to chew my way through the last fallen tree on Bottle Bay Portage.
Plan on a town trip 14th this will be Debbie's first time off the rock since Nov.20th. Will have to check out Days Inn lunch special as a treat!!!

Conditions

Up to 5" of ice with 2" snow covering as of this morning.Beautiful morning here,clear,calm and -29c.We have had lots of sun past 3 days.
We have not ventured off the rock(wanted to go to Days Inn one Friday--$1.00 off the lunch special) But the ice boat would not start. So today will be the first day venturing out. I plan on checking ice thickness from here to Bare Point as the road would go using snowmobile.
Then head over to check for fallen trees on the Bottle Bay Portage.
We heard they have started using quads to clear snow from Ministry Landing to Coney.

Made some ice !!

We are now sitting @ 3" of ice and 2" snow on ice as of 07:30 on 9th. Just under 1" snow fell during the night,strong SE winds have whipped the snow around leaving bare patches of ice.Hopeful the colder temps this weekend build ice.

Lost a little ice

Lost .5" yesterday-just enough current and mild temps to slow process.
Lunny's walked out to their camp yesterday on Scotty's,From Bare Point to their place 3" ice,but only 2" around their docks.

Shot from 38000'

Here's a shot taken from 38000' taken Dec 6 at 1500 hrs. Couldn't get a clear view of French Narrows...too cloudy. Looks like its frozen over, now we need some cooooold weather!!

slow freeze

Not much has changed with the milder temps(lows of only-12)the freeze has slowed down. We have 2.5" @ our landing as of noon yesterday. Rec'd pictures of a sled that sunk @ Round Lake in Town-The tips of skis and a helmut were protruding from the hole.
Enviroment Canada had forecasted clear and cooler temps for past few days--instead its been mild and 1" of snow--glad to see they haven't lost their touch!!!
A lone wolf walked through our yard yesterday morning.

ice thickness

Did not take a picture on yesterday's walk-just imagine a fresh,crisp white sheet stretched tight over a bed-it was flawless.This morning water has wicked up between the cracks and stained the fresh snow,leaving 2' wide streaks running in several directions.While drilling a hole to check thickness the ice was protesting under my weight--we are up to 1 1/2" @ our landing. The following is measurments I took from a magazine years ago-they are only a guideline! Know before you go!!
2"= 1 person on foot
3"= group single file
4"= snowmobile
7 1/2" car
10" truck

Its official lake has froze

Cannot see any open water this morning. Made 3/4" of ice @ our landing yesterday.
We have a heavy frost here this morning,calm,-16c,trees are covered-very senic.
It has been a very quiet freeze up,had a raccoon hanging around for a few days and saw 2 deer swimming from our Island to the next just before lake froze solid,They had to break 75' of ice along shoreline. I guess the grass is greener on the other side.Have not seen or heard the Eagle for past 2 days--I think its just us and the winter birds she feeds. The 7 day forecast looks good for ice making with lows of -17c, and not much for snow.
This picture is looking SE from our Island towards Bunn Island.Taken 14:30 on 2nd.

First ice report of 2010 season

When the screaming winds subsided around noon on the 1st.Ice started forming.(this is the 3rd time and each time it would freeze the winds would pick-up and bust it up again)
The only open water is the big stretches to the South and East-expect they will freeze tonight-forecast is calm and -18c.
We started boating April 14th and put boat away Nov. 29th, longest boating season we have seen.
Its forecasted we may even see sun this week!! Only been 2 partial sunny days in past 2 weeks. Lots of cloud,wind and snow--more snow on ground now than all last year.
No word on ice roads yet, Sharon has been very busy this fall but I'm sure as time gets closer we will get a report from her.
This picture was taken looking North @ 16:00 on Dec. 01---this morning its solid ice as far as you can see.(a double left click on picture will enlarge it)

just seeing if the blog is still up ??? pt

lake temp +5c ,,, from ric and deb ,,, nov 16th 2010

Lake is open

Its official the first boat went by here 18:30 on 14th. The ice is also gone in Bigstone Bay.

Ice Update

Out playing in the boat yesterday,can now boat around Queer-pushed some ice but made it into Moore Bay,open water to Eagle Pass. Still cannot get passed Cat Island-made it 1/4 mile North into Hades from Hall's Gate before getting stopped by ice.
The Manitou and Andrew Bay still have ice. Winds are E 20km and gusting this morning and SE 25 and gusting this afternoon-this will break up a lot of the mushy ice.Pushed ice but managed to boat around our Island.
Didn't realize till we got home and put boat on lift but the ice ripped out the drain plug-bilge pump could not keep up and we had ice in bottom of boat!!
Still sticking to my April 17th date of boating out.

Ice

Took this picture 13:00 April 06/10 beside Red Bouy # E27. That is as far as we could go(cannot boat around our Island) In past years when we make it this far it is usually another week before we make Bare Point. Heard Bigstone Bay is still solid and no open water in Moore Bay as of yesterday. The Prop Shop should do a good business this year with the low water. The Geese have moved on and no new sightings.
I don't expect much change in next couple days-will head out again on 9th. Double left click on image to enlarge picture-the underneath side of ice was so sharp I cut my finger pulling it out of lake.

Spring

Sorry no new pictures,plane is down for service. I have my aluminum boat in the water and have run it but there is 40' of ice stopping me from getting to the open water.I think 2 more days and I will be able to get past the narrows. We have some cool nights coming -9 this will "make ice" and set us back a little.
Heard people are boating from Town to St. Helena Island to fish.Still sticking to my prediction of boating out April 17th.

Spring Thaw

Took this picture of French Narrows (Dorian Island foreground)from 500' heading South.There were 12 geese swimming in open water.
Quad travel has come to an early end down here,there is a huge crack in ice cutting across our ice road from Queer towards French Narrows.And too much open water between Queer and Pipestone. The open water from the Elbow has almost reached SE tip Queer.The couple of cold nights last week caused pressure ridges to form on entire lake,the ice was so loud it woke us during the night.
There were a lot of people out fishing on North side of Scotty's.
The only new wildlife sighting was March 24th we had 4 European Starlings in feeder--1st time ever.Our forecast has changed several times for next week but still calling for double digits for highs and above freezing for lows,with a mix of sun and rain-either way good for melting ice.
Best get those boats tuned up should be boating in April!!

town trip

Made a trip to town by quad,followed the ice road to Rocky Narrows and cowboy across to Bare Point.There are some open water patches along edge of road(you could troll the length of them) From our place to 12 Mile Portage there are 4 pressure ridges but can still cross them by Quad. The melting seems to have stalled with cooler temps.No new wildlife sightings in the area.

Spring sightings

Today will be the last trip with the truck,taking her off the ice this afternoon.We have only had 3 mornings with a minus temp since this mild spell started beging of March.Here are a couple of sightings we have observed.
March 01 1st Eagles returned.
March 14th 1st Motorcycle(in town)
March 17th 1 st Goose
The Grosbeaks have moved on, Last night the wolves were very vocale and close.

French Narrows Ice Road

Had a call from Rick Jackson who informs me, he has closed off access over the portage towards his place due to "bad ice". No longer accessable beyond that point. Warm weather and lots of rain could bring us an early spring.

Beautiful day in the neighbourhood,sunny,calm,high 0c. Lots of ice fishermen out today,Boucha's were plowing the light snow we had Sunday(little ground drifting)
Took this picture of Keewatin Channel @ 400' heading West, an ice boat had entered the water bottom middle of picture by wing strut,crossed the open water and exited @ west end. The boat broke up the ice and from the air looked like a giant jig saw puzzle.

Looks good out there. Most driveways are in. A few did not go in due to slush, but this cold weather should tighten things up. Not much snow to deal with.