First complete freeze of my millpond, Nov 13/2013. About 3/8ths of an inch. Glassy smooth.
You are making me jealous of cold weather!
That pond reminds me a lot of the pond on which I learned to skate. It looks to be about the same size.
It brings back good memories!
Nice. Bet you can't wait to skate on it! :)
I can wait, it would be a cold bath for sure otherwise. I hope it remains cold, it is so glassy smooth now. If it freezed all ripply it will suck.
That looks divine! Will it freeze enough later in the winter that you'll be able to use it?
Hope so. Issues will be the weather, and amount of snow. That pond goes back 1/4 of a mile and I ain't shovelling all that :o A heavy snow cover tends to weaken ice, acts as insulation so the water underneath melts it from below. Have to keep it cleared so the cold drives down through and freezes the water under.
If we get a normal winter it should freeeze a foot thick if minimal snow. once it is 6-8 inches I can take the tractor out on it to plough it off.
Every skater has their own little fantasy that they mostly keep to themselves. Mine is to own my own little pond that freezes over in the winter. I grew up skating on ponds and lived within walking distance of two different ponds - didn't skate inside until I was at least 30 or more. I know the conditions are rarely ideal but gosh, I love it!
It's true about the fantasy- I dream of a lake, frozen glass smooth, and I can skate in total solitude and enjoy the ice, without an audience. Add in the northern lights, and it's all perfect.
I am so very jealous of your pond....and your tractor. May the pond freeze perfectly this year!
Do you have a way to re-smooth once you've skated on it?
Ice is 1 1/2 inches thick average Nov 25. Went for a skate this morning.
Ice is quite smooth overall, not quite as nice as the first freeze, but there is lots of acreage to choose from when skating, you can skate back 1/4 mile to an old rr causeway.
I thought the 3 turn tracing showed up well. :)
Nice!
Thanks for the update.
Jealous!
Even if it gets cold enough to snow, we'll only get two snowflakes before it melts so there's no chance of ever getting ice thick enough to skate on.
That is a little patch of heaven. I am total South Florida envy.
Well, if anyone wishes to come up and skate on the equivalent of 4 olympic sized rinks for free just let me know. You're welcome to. There are lovely B&B's and inns around and you could make a weekend of it. I can give you directions, just park by the mill across the road.
I think I'll add it to my long list of long term vacation destinations. I skated in Sweden once and really wished I'd had long track skates as you could do 100 miles on Lake Maleren.
Tried to skate on Lake Louise near Banff. Was thwarted by skate hire being shut. (This was before I started skating again so I didn't have my own skates). We slid about the ice instead and explored all the ice sculptures including an ice castle!
I'm so jelly!!!
I have yet to find a pond closeby in Ohio that I can skate on. :(
After this ice storm I bet your pond ice is about 5 feet thick! :)
Update?