Ice Games ...

Greetings Everyone!



With the winds and warm temperatures - the ice has changed significantly.  Although it appears the upper lake - past Cotton Wood Creek is open - a large sheet of ice is blocking a complete opening.  In turn, the ice has become a teaser - opening up leeds then, closing them up and shifting direction.  

Birds of a feather ..
Some of the water fowl we've seen in front of our cabin - before the ice shifted and closed their little 'pond.'

Looking towards the upper lake's 'slot' yesterday. 

Water is flowing - but a large sheet of ice is blocking the flow of water from the 'slot.'

A typical game the ice plays - move and build an ice ridge.



View from the 'Ice Classic Dock' - there is still ice out past Frying Pan.



Yesterday - early evening the ice shifted and began pushing into the open water in front of our cabin . 
 It was fascinating to see the ice squeeze and shove itself up onto the shore.

Looking towards the upper landing - weak ice making ice ridges as the winds blow and move the ice about.

Looking east - more ice and leeds opening up.

View up lake.

Ice ridges forming as the wind pushes the ice.

A relative calm view - near Swan Cove.



Yesterday evening - the wind increased to 30 mph - causing the ice to shift dramatically.
I'm standing in front of an ice ridge that was made in half- an-hour!
  Ernie and I were mesmerized watching the birth of the ridge - the groaning and scraping of the ice was amazing - and to see the force shoving ice up onto the rockie beach was awesome!



After the birth of the ice ridge (in front of our cabin) - we explored along the ridge and discovered a pile of rocks had been lifted and deposited onto the top of the ice ridge. 
 We also noticed other rock piles as well - some rocks were rather large - rather amazing! 

Our boat is moored just out of this picture - the ice ridge runs both left and right of our boat.
  It will be interesting to see if we can get our boat out once the lake waters begin to flow - I trust this ridge will melt quickly!

This ridge is to left of our moored boat.

This morning when we woke - we discovered the ice moved to in front of our cabin.  It's now 'hanging out' from the mainland to our shores.  So we will see how long it will be before the ice moves away.  Swan Cove is open but the ice seems to be just staying put on this side.

All in all we've been experiencing an exciting break-up.  We've actually been able to watch the ice shifting, making leeds and creating ice ridges directly in front of our cabin.

Take Care and good luck on your Ice Classic guess!