Most of my early skating was done on smaller lakes. I lived near Willow Lake in Zanesville, Ohio, and could see parts of it from my bedroom window. It was less than a quarter mile away, so within easy walking distance. I could see if others were already skating when I got home from school, and headed right over to skate. Being winter, it didn't take too long to get dark but the lake had a lamp on a pole by the beach area. If the switch was unlocked, we'd use it to be able to see for another half hour or so.
This picture was taken in the early 70s of me and my girlfriend skating on another lake in town, Melody lake. It was sometimes busier than Willow Lake, and we were skating with friends who lived nearby.
Notice the typical ice. There was a trace of snow, and of course, chips of ice on the surface from skate blades. I recall skating with her one night time and we were imitating skaters seen on the
Wide World of Sports TV show. I bumped into her and accidentally knocked out one of her contact lenses. Those things blend in perfectly with ice chips and snow. I told her to not move, and I went to my car to fetch my skate box and the car's snow brush. I scooped up all the snow and ice around her and put it into the box. Then we went home and I put the snow into a kitchen strainer and ran warm water over it, melting the snow. In the bottom was her missing contact lens.
I also recall seeing (dead) frozen fish in crystal-clear ice, and in some areas of Willow Lake, looking down several feet at some of the dormant plants that grew from the bottom.
There is another thing with outdoor skating that is spooky, and that's the sound ice makes as it cracks. It could be plenty thick and safe, but still it cracks with a long, reverberant sound. There's a video on the tube that captures that sound nicely. In that case, the skater is on fresh, thin ice, but the sound is the same.
Here's the link to the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3O9vNi-dkA