The rain, wind, and heat have taken their toll on the ice. When we arrived late Friday afternoon the lake was liquid around the edges.
Some bravely walked about on the frozen lake but not us.
On Saturday morning the gap between the shore and the ice was larger but the real story was the weather. It was hot. It was almost 80°F and very sunny. Many July days have weather worse than Saturday's.
We had a moring mission: to attend the Forest County Maple Syrup Festival. The gym of the Crandon school was turned into a craft emporium. We waded through to the contest table with little damage to our wallets. Mr. EMT then entered his syrup and began a 6+ hour lament on how his product was to sweet. To see all the details on how the contest turned out visit his site
At around noon we launched a paddle boat and explored the edges.
The ice on the edges is about 2.5 inches thick and breaks off quite easily.
The ducks are were still hanging around.
The weather was so hot my niece and I decided to go for a swim. After diving in I almost made it to the ice before sprinting back. Victoria bolted back a bit sooner. April 17th is the earliest I have ever went into the water over my head. I don't plan on doing it again soon, the water is pretty cold this time of year.
The skies started to cloud up when we left. Heavy rain would pelt the lake ice that night and strong winds will further reduce it on Sunday. Ice-out could be any day now. We now have DSL! The webcam updates every 5 minutes and the weather will soon be "live". We'll be back next week.
