Ice-In in the Time of Corona

Last week the lake started with some ice, some open water, and no skiers. A dusting of snow improved the contrast between the open and the ice. The thin, white blanket also made it clear that the ice was winning the battle for the soul of the lake and that Fall was a distant memory.

There were two main open patches. The larger one waved up most of the North end and the smaller one lapped the shore around mid-lake on the East.

As the sun set on Monday, the temperature dropped and the ice started to grow.

On Tuesday morning, the parts of the lake that had been open just hours before remained clear, but strangely waveless. As the drone dog paddled through the 2°F air, it was unclear whether we were seeing ice or open water with some floating frozen bits.

A closer inspection revealed it to be the former. Ice-In 2020 on Lake Lucerne occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday, December 15th after a brief meeting of the college of loons. Shortly thereafter blue smoke was seen streaming from the sap shack on Knott Lane.

In the days that followed, wind blew the meager amount of snow over the newly frozen North end and the ice lost its clearness.

For most of last week the snow on the ground wasn't deep enough to cover the lawn. A few squirrels and a yard pheasant took advantage of this lack of depth by picking spilled bird seed from the ground.

More skittery creatures you will not find. The smallest sound or motion will send the squirrels a flying and the pheasant a running.

At the end of the week, a little over an inch of fresh snow covered the northwoods.

A vast herd of deer (three I think) tracked up the cold canvas that hours before was Potawatomi Trail. The roads have snow and some patchy ice. The beginning of the the bruising season is upon us.

The ice and snow have not missed Knott Lane. Its unpaved nature has made it a bit more tractiony than the fancy pants paved roads around it. No deer though, just a big dog.

The lake is frozen over, but the ice is not too thick and there's not much snow. This has kept the snowmobiles out of the public eye. The cold air has suppressed the ATV numbers. The result is an extremely quiet time for the lake area except for the joyous noises made by the local winners of this year's Knottlane Ice-In Contest. To be fair though, with Holiday season near and the 30th Annual Bottle Rocket War just after that, the ice-in contest winners may not be the only ones making joyous noises.

-Nemo always remembers that the most important thing in a good ice-in is not crispiness, but stability.

Ice-In in the Time of Corona

December 14th through 20th, 2020