Back in mid-December Len and I were out at the lake and this is trip #2 for the winter season.
The drive was fine and we stopped in Kenora for dinner at the LOTWBrewCo and arrived at the cottage around 8 p.m. As usual the snow bank at the bottom of the driveway and the driveway itself was impassible so I used the snowshoes to clear a trail. A few trips and we’re loaded in. The cottage is only -5°C and didn’t seem all that cold. With the furnace, fireplace and kerosene heater cranked on it’s quite toasty in short order.
Some beverages, snacks and a couple of movies and it’s almost 1am so we call it a day.
Next morning after a few coffees and a light breakfast it’s time to head down to the lake to get some water.
There is still lots of ice but also lots of surface water this year. I shovel off a light cover of snow to find out that I can also break off about 1” of ice with the shovel and hit a water pocket! Normally, this requires a pick axe to dig out a trough to dip the bucket in. There seems to be alternating layers of ice and water for about the first foot and then it’s solid ice for over 2 feet. We scoop out two buckets and back up to the cottage.
Later in the day we head out across the lake past the island and across the ice road to an area where there has been some sort of snow clearing activity.
Out past the island, where we see people fishing during the summer, there has been another ice road created that leads form a cottage in the north end of the bay to this fishing spot. There is evidence of several ice fishing holes which are now frozen over. With the ice roads “officially” closed I suspect any ice fishing shacks have been removed.
Next morning I’m up at 6am with a coffee watching the moon rise being washed away by the sun rise at 7:05am
6:00am
7:05am
Our water hole has frozen over with about 2″ of ice due to the -21°C over night.
After coffees and a leisurely breakfast we clean up, pack up and head for home. A good winter weekend.
