Locked in the Cooler Week

February 5th through 11th

In past Winters, the lake area begins to warm up this time of year. Not this Winter. Sub-zero mornings and single digit afternoons were the rule last week. There were several silver linings to this arctic horror. There's ice fishing, skiing (both downhill and cross country), snowmobiling and, as long as propane remains cheap and plentiful, indoor warmth.

We hit peak snowmobile last week. The sound of revving 2-cycle engines filled the air as sleds tracked up the lakes, zoomed trails, dodged the trees, and pulled into gas stations.

To the East of Lake Lucerne, Lakes Wabikon and Riley remain frozen. Lake Wabikon's ice-out process is usually about 2 weeks ahead of Lucerne's. That being said, ice-out on Lake Lucerne is not expected anytime soon.

Peeking over the hill to the West, it was noted that Lake Metonga is also still ice covered.

Sandwiched between a few lakes, Crandon also is still ice and snow covered.

Eventually the snowmobiles stop due to rider hunger, thirst, gaslessness, or mechanical breakdowns. During this down time the lake becomes curiously still and quiet unlike anytime during the Summer.

It took a little cunning, a little cuteness, and over a year, but the webcam at Water's Edge pub and eatery is back up. Yeah! Thanks goes out to Packerland broadband for the internet drop, the LLAA for its funding, Tim "aLf" Lippert for his amazing ability to raise the camera back from the dead, and Water's Edge management for putting up with all our system configuration related cursing.

We had some pretty good sunsets last week to go with some very cold, clear, and star filled nights.

Most mornings last week were clear and very cold as well. As Deep Winter continues to extend its relentless reign, the chance of a March ice-out for Lake Lucerne becomes less likely. With that in mind, watch for the annual Lake Lucerne Ice-Out contest to be posted in the next week or two. We'll be sure to post a current ice thickness report before then. Our guess is that it's currently over 2 feet thick.<br><br>-Nemo misses the deciduous shades of green.