Skating Lake Ice 002

About every five to six years we get a year with no early snow and cold enough temperatures that it is safe to skate on some of the local lakes. This year is one of those years. Last week, a group of us skated on three different lakes. I love skating on clear lake ice but I would not recommend doing this unless you know the ice is safe. Some lakes do not freeze over evenly leaving thin ice in certain spots.

skatinglakeice

Skating Lake Ice 001

Lake Agnes is one of my favorites. This is an alpine-like wilderness lake located between a series of ridges off the Caribou Trail. It is spring fed and has one outlet that drops 150 feet to the Poplar River. We hiked into the lake, checked the ice to make sure it was safe, and skated around the shoreline.

skatinglakeice

Poplar River Overlook

We carried our boots so we could hike to the Poplar River overlook at the far end of the lake. On the trip we saw a snowy owl, pileated woodpecker and several bald eagles.

poplarriveroverlook

Six Inches of Clear Ice

When there is no snow on the ice it is easy to tell when the ice is thick enough to be safe.

sixinchesclearice

Lax Lake at Sunset

We were also able to skate Lax Lake near Silver Bay. Lax had several skaters enjoying the new ice along with a few fishermen taking in the sunset.

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