April 15, 2014
My family has lived on the shores of Lake St. Catherine for some 34 years though those years were mostly as Part Time Residents. In all those years, we have never witnessed the Freezing or Thawing of the Lake. We’d always arrive to a Frozen or Open body of water. This year, my second as a Full Time resident of Poultney, VT, I made it a goal that I would be here to witness both the freeze and thaw of the lake. Today, I am happy to report that I have succeeded in this goal.
I have been watching the thaw with the childlike amazement for the past few days, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to experience today. While I knew what I was experiencing, I never knew it happened here on my lake. It was always something I’d hear about on one of the great lakes. The weather was going to change drastically today. We’d been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and the lake ice was pulling away from shore, but yesterday a strong Warm Front had moved in and brought with it strong winds gusting to 25mph here on the lake. By nightfall, we’d be expecting heavy rain and freezing temperatures.
Last night I began to see the Lake Ice move in large sections and I could hear the sound of a thousand chirping birds, or so I thought. I took some pictures of the ice pushing a neighbors dock and climbing up on top of it as it moved across. This morning I saw an opportunity to launch the kayak as the shoreline was opening up and there were a few large bodies of open water now. Little did I know what was going to unfold.
So I made a plan, get some paperwork done and then get out there before the cold front hit. Sure, it was raining already, but you have to expect to get wet if you play in the water anyway. So around 10:30am I loaded up the kayak, suited up Lexie and I and for the first time this season, launched Lex-T-Sea.
I had two options, paddle south along the Eastern shore and break through some ice that had pushed into the shore or head due West and break through the ice and into a large body of open water. I opted for the second option and in no time, I was in open water. My original plan was to head south into the Big Lake, but seeing the ice on my right and seeing it pile up on itself, I decided to turn North and Chase the Ice Flow. As I got closer I once again heard the sound of a thousand birds, but there was not one bird in sight.
As I brought the kayak closer to the Windward side of the large sheet of ice that was slowly but forcefully moving North due to a Southerly Wind I could see millions of tiny pieces of ice floating in the water and giving off this amazing sound that even a few moments ago I would have swore were birds. You will hear it in the first and third video, but to describe it in words would be to say the sound of a million glass bottles breaking over and over or from a distance, a thousand birds. Now the wind kept pushing me into the ice and I was trying to stay out of it, but I saw a large body of water on the other side of this ice and I also saw a narrow crooked passage through it. So I took it.
This past December, on my Birthday – Dec 12th, I had also cut through a large sheet of thin ice so while I know I could do it, this ice was no longer thin. It was thick. 2″ at its thinnest point and who knows how thick in the middle of these flows. Lex-T-Sea easily cut through the channel and thanks to my rudder, I was able to navigate the narrow crooked path easily despite being almost 15′ in length in my Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.7 I got into the open water on the other side and examined the speed at which the ice was moving as well as my distance to shore. I turned around and was shocked to see that my path closed up. Not just filled in. I was watching the ice push together and fold up over itself. This was just starting to get fun.
Fun
adjective informal
1. amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable.
OK, so perhaps my definition of entertaining is different from others but I do need to take a moment to disclose something…This isn’t a paddle for the light hearted recreational paddler. I was in some serious trouble here. The ice was closing in on me and my channel closed up fast. I needed to decide if I was going to bail on this trip and head for shore while I still could or try to get through the ice flow. I also need to point out that both I and my dog are wearing PFD’s, we have safety gear, a back up paddle, rescue (throw bag) lines and can call for help via a SPOT device if need be, but I hate the idea of being rescued for something I decided to do so unless life was at risk, I was not calling for help. I decided to try to get through the ice flow.
My first attempt was back the way I came. I rammed the ice and began to cut through it, but I soon stalled and the ice to my right and left was too thick to break with my Kevlar and Carbon paddle. I turned around to look behind me and the ice was closing up on me. I backed myself out of there as fast as I could without becoming unstable which was difficult as the ice tried to get under the kayak and eventually I was free from its grasp but still trapped. I noticed a large crack in the leeward side of the ice on the shore side so I rammed it and it broke free. I retreated to the shore and reexamined my options staying close to the shoreline in case I had to bail. It looked like the large section I broke free took about 10′ off the distance I had to break through and it looked like I still had enough room to give it another try. I began to paddle back out to the channel I was trying for when I spotted another. I aimed for that one only to discover the ice there was extremely thick and water was simply flowing over it like a stream. I backed off of that section and headed to my original spot.
This time I began to cut through much easier than before and I felt like the large section I broke free must had helped me some. I began to make a lot of headway when I suddenly stopped dead. I turned around and there was no going back. It completely closed in on me and I was being forced up on the ice. I placed the paddle down and grabbed the edge of the ice with my hand and began to pull. I heard the ice breaking under the weight of the kayak and I knew I had a shot. Suddenly I was breaking through the ice and was once again able to paddle. Soon I hit the open ice that was making all the noise and was able to breath a sigh of relief. I was back in open water. I turned around and my path was once again closed up. I paddled south toward the big lake.
The headwind I was facing was strong. We were experiencing 16mph headwinds with gusts to 25mph so I adjusted the paddles to a 60 degree offset to reduce drag and paddled dead into the wind making comfortable yet slow progress. I was paddling straight into the big lake which was still frozen.
Upon hitting the Peninsula at the State Park which was completely under water, I noticed the ice on the Western Shore was piling up on land. If not for the steep banks and rocks here, the ice flow would be pushing up to the houses. I paddled toward it to get a better view, but was unable to get too close as I did not want to get caught in this massive ice flow some 20 times greater than I just experienced. The wind was fierce and I had to keep myself from being blown ashore as well.
I then turned West and paddled toward the State Park where I saw yet another section where the ice was being pushed into the shoreline. From there I figured I’d attempt to paddle up Parker Brook but ended up running aground not too far in. Guess the brook wasn’t as flooded as the day before so I did a 180 and caught the current back into the lake.
Back in open water I headed back to the ice flow in the North End for one more Look See and then made tracks for home.
The experience was awesome and to be right in it was beyond my expectations. As I mentioned before and want to again, this paddle was not for the faint of heart. I’m a very strong paddler who does not panic when faced with a challenging situation and is well prepared. In other words, enjoy my videos and….
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
Gallery of Images below the video
Two hours after I got off the lake, the Cold Front hit and I am so glad I was not out there for its arrival. Check it out.
