Candle ice safety

[wildWoman]

Anybody know of good ways to judge how safe candle ice is for walking on, and at what point it becomes too rotten? I guess I mean old ice, once the top inches turn into slush and the whole affair turns that grey-greenish colour, before it turns into the long candle crystals.
Interestingly, moose and bears don't seem to be too careful about crossing rotten ice, whereas they stay away from newly formed ice at the beginning of the winter. Or at least in this neck of the woods.

[trax]

Personally, when I start seeing that color you described, I stay off the ice. I've worked on plenty of frozen lakes on heavy equipment in the past, but that frozen-slush greenish color is my limit. Side note: ever seen a big animal go through the ice? I saw it happen to a big black bear once. It's hilarious.

[DOGMAN]

Wear hip boots, and be prepared to get wet....I've always been told to not walk on candle ice, and I have heard it described in the same basic way you described it.

[wildWoman]

yes, we had a young bull moose go through the ice right in front of our cabin last spring. He broke in right by shore but at a deep spot, and because the shore ice was at such a steep angle, he had a really hard time getting out. we were already thinking up moose rescue methods but eventually the poor guy got out on his own.
The spring before that, a grizzly crossed 1km of rotten ice, also by the cabin, breaking in with his hind quarters every couple of steps and a few times going through all the way. It was a nail biter watching him. A wolverine was fighting its way across at the same time as him, but going the other direction. I went the next morning to where he got out on shore and his path was scrawled in white slush across the green candle ice, quite a sight. Wouldn't like to be the focus of attention of a bear that determined!
Who knows what happens in the next couple of weeks...

[DOGMAN]

Hey Wildwoman has the Yukon broke yet? I was over in Eagle, AK several years ago when it broke, and man what a sight! I think it was about May 5th if I remember correctly. All the townsfolk (all 100 or so) had a betting pool going for what day it'd finally break. What a party

[trax]

That bear just kind of beat his way back to shore,pushing the ice/slush out of his way, but the surprise and shock were pretty funny. He started bawling his head off. My partner and I were laughing our heads off 'til we realized he was plowing through the ice toward us, then we decided to leave.

[wildWoman]

Hey Wildwoman has the Yukon broke yet? I was over in Eagle, AK several years ago when it broke, and man what a sight! I think it was about May 5th if I remember correctly. All the townsfolk (all 100 or so) had a betting pool going for what day it'd finally break. What a party

We're not on the river, but on a tributary lake, but from what I've heard the Yukon is still frozen. Our lake here is already getting quite slushy, might get break up a week earlier than usual.

[grundle]

That is a clear sign of......(wait for it).........GLOBAL WARMING!

[trax]

That is a clear sign of......(wait for it).........GLOBAL WARMING!

Ya think? I think it's a clear sign that the river is going to break up a week earlier than usual. I worked in an industry for a number of years (that's right WW, the dreaded diamond drillers) that depended on freeze up and break up and you couldn't exactly mark a 'safe' date on your calendar.

[wildWoman]

That is a clear sign of......(wait for it).........GLOBAL WARMING!

Well, if you talk to the old timers here, they'll tell you that the lakes here now freeze 4 weeks later and break up two weeks earlier than twenty years ago. Instead of up to 6' of ice, we're now lucky to get 18" to 2'. Which does not make hauling supplies over the ice any safer.

[wildWoman]

I worked in an industry for a number of years (that's right WW, the dreaded diamond drillers) that depended on freeze up and break up and you couldn't exactly mark a 'safe' date on your calendar.

Glad you're reformed now, trax :D (I hope?!?! :eek:)

[trax]

Glad you're reformed now, trax :D (I hope?!?! :eek:)

Sometimes I miss the good parts of it, working outdoors and living out in a wilderness camp for an entire winter. Then the temperature drops 30 degrees and I remember what it was really like, trying to get a D7 thawed out or pulling a few hundred feet of rods in a 60 mph wind and I thank my Creator for the nice cushy office job, lol. I worked in mining a lot too and I really think sometimes about the amount of damage I've done to the earth and I think um....whoops:o

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

spud bar and common sense single file at least 20 yds apart

[Rick]

Six feet of ice!!??:eek: That has got to be God's way of saying don't live there.

Turn the thermostat up dear, I feel a chill. ;)

[cajun swamp hunter]

Ice? Thats that stuff out of the freezer right? Down here its only hot water hah. This is the kind of stuff I really find informative because I have ZERO experience dealing with this stuff or even snow which I have only seen from a plane once. Keep it coming!

[trax]

spud bar and common sense single file at least 20 yds apart

That's not exactly relevant for snowmobiles, trucks, atv's, heavy equipment, or even dogsleds for that matter

You're still ok with 2 feet of ice usually.