Another Roadside Attraction....Minus the Side
Am I demented if I admit to loving the cold? If it were not for the extended winter darkness, I would even consider moving up to Alaska.
Well, with temps reaching below zero (F) for several days now, in fact not going above zero, I guess I feel at ease. The truth is, with such a warm winter thus far, I just wanted to feel as though we were going to have a halfway "normal" season. That and I love driving on the ice.
The Lake Superior bays of Wisconsin are fairly shallow allowing for thick ice accumulation. In fact there is even an ice road, technically a state highway, that connects the small town of Bayfield to the community of La Pointe on Madeline Island. It's maintained with plows and marked by old christmas trees for those windy white-out days. When the water is open, a small ferry runs between the two communities. When the ice begins to thicken so that the ferry can't operate, but not thick enough for the ice road, a windsled carries passengers back and forth. I was just in Bayfield yesterday, and unfortunately the ice road was not open yet. However, with the temps forcasted to remain low, it should be open soon.
The Ice Road Not Yet Open As of 2/08But the ice road isn't the only place for ice driving. In Ashland I was able to find a path made by ice fisherman venturing out on the lake. The road was made over the public beach I visited earlier this year. It was a great way to get a closer look at the lighthouse on the breakwater I always see from a distance.
I Pulled Over for A Looksee
I Let This Ice Fisherman Go Around Me. Maybe He Knew Where he Was Going.I drove around for awhile until I came to a large group of ice huts, where the tracks became less apparent. And when I say huts, I mean small heated cabins. Some of these places would be big enough for me to live in. They even have antennaes for their TV's. Quite the fishing experience-dropping your line through the hole in your floor all while sucking down a brewskie and not missing a minute of the game.
So until the ice road opens, my next ice experience will be skiing on it at Book Across the Bay. Happy Winter!
Labels: Photos, The Northland
posted by BurdockBoy @ 11:18 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
H'lo Burdock. We have ice roads too. One of the signs of spring is when a car goes through the ice road near Pike's Landing. The winners gets a candid in the paper.
And I know what you mean about those McIce huts. We have our share at Birch & Quartz Lake. Times have changed. What happened to the daze of just relying on brandy? The new subsistence fisherman, ha!. Power auger's really make it though...
Cool posts on the local flave. Tx.
Oooh, I LOVE the cold, too, though I've never lived in the kind of cold you have out there, at least I don't think I have(not sure what it's like all winter there). I've lived on the East Coast, but it never was too cold in my opinion. No such thing, right? Just kidding. My husband lived in MN for a while and he would definitely disagree.
Anyway, the photos are beautiful. All that open space and winter white looks so peaceful.
Awesome post. Ice roads... learn something new every day.
We always hear about it when some guy driving a pickup truck (or, even earlier in the season, someone on a snowmobile) goes through the ice on Lake Winnipesaukee.
never heard of ice roads before.wow.
I was born in Alaska. Fairbanks. We came back to Indiana when I was about 8 months or so.
I wish I could say that I love cold,but I don't. I'd rather be sitting beneath a tropical tree reading a good book,with a slight breeze rustling the pages.......ahhhh.
I'd rather be cold than hot, one can only take off so much. I'm not a fan of snow though.
Living where we do, where we have extreme changes of temperature, we have to keep our sense of humor. Lately, down here in Milwaukee we've been chuckling about "Channel 58's van went through the ice Sunday when the station was doing a story about the dangers of thin ice." I'm sure you can imagine all the other news outlet's snikers.
T.Fool:
Ahh the cars going throught the ice are classic. One of the big events is the first vehicle that chances the iceroad. It draws quite the crowd.
Every now and then I'll still see a couple old school fisherman pulling a tobboggan full of their gear out on the lake. Maybe with a folding chair and a thermos of something warm. Hardcore.
M: Yeah, MN, WI, & ND have about the coldest temps (not counting AK). When it's 30 below without the wind that's too cold. Things start breaking and cars stop starting. Not fun. Temps in the teens are my favourite. Crisp, clear air with some Lake Effect snow....
caroline: They have rescue training courses up here for saving people that fall through the ice. They even spent a bunch of money recently for some type of hovercraft thingy. The worst is when they don't find the body. I'm always worried I'll find it washed up on a beach this spring, like a dog I found once.
Kim: I think the main ice road in Bayfield (almost 3 miles long) is the only one in the lower 48. I don't like the cold all the time. I like living somewhere with seasons. And after the maple sugaring is done, I'll be ready for some desert or tropical scenery myself.
Toby: I spent a couple weeks of July in Florida once and I almost died. Non stop sweating. Forget it. I love the snow too. Maybe you need to partake in a snow activity. Makes the winters go by.
That story of the van going through the ice is irony to the tenth power. I bet the people in charge got a good chewing out.
Ok I think you are demented! :)I'm not a fan of the cold, but I do like seasons. That is one of my favorite things about WV. We still get snow, but then it melts away. It doesn't just keep piling, like NE Ohio!
Ahhh... love the ice roads! When I lived over your direction, I had a visitor from Europe who was astounded. We stopped for lots of pictures.
I heard the sea/ice caves are accessible again this year, itching to get over there. I LOVE the "Book Across the Bay". too.. the last year I did it, though, there was about a foot of water in some places. A bit disconcerting when you're skiing over ice in the dark.
Maybe we'll get off our duffs and go East one of these days...
Looks like great fun. Hope you'll let us know when the road opens, that is if you decide to venture out. No kidding about those fishing huts. They seem to spare no expense these days.
stephanie: NY is where the real action is. I've seen the pictures with the snow up to the roofs. Now that would be fun.
GTR: I used to live pretty close to the ice caves so I visited them often. They are probably my favourite attraction up here.
I've only done Book Across the Bay once, and it was really cold. I used to work at the Washburn Library so I volunteered in the cocoa booth a few times as well. What fun.
Carla: I heard the road is open so I'll try get up there again and get some photos. It was actually open when I was up there but thy didn't have it all marked off. I guess one time someone got lost and their truck fell in.
If it wasn't for my wife, who thinks you are demented, we would be living in the last frontier as well. I, on the other hand, think you are normal, and agree with you. Last week we got 5 inches of snow in a 5 hour period and she was going crazy, while the rest of the family enjoyed the view.
Tim:
Right on. What kid doesn't like snow? It's exciting. And as long as you pick up some kind of snow activity it really is a blast.
In rebuttal to my husband comment, He is not the one who has to bundle, unbundle kids, make hot chocolate and clean up snow puddles! LOL and I did go out and play too! :)
stephanie:
Well, the extra work aside, I'm glad you got out to enjoy the snow. But do you have to make hot chocolate for Tim as well?
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