03-07-2011, 11:50 PM
Late ice is dangerous for many different reasons...Of course all ice is dangerous to a certain degree...
1. The melting snow lifts the cap and seperates the ice from the edge. Without really cold weather the warm water on the edge wears away at the edge ice creating punk (soft) ice.
2. The longer days and the continual sunlight soften the ice even if it freezes at night the thawing/freezing action makes the ice soft and may create unsafe gaps lines etc...
3. The sunlight warms anything on or around the ice like sticks, rocks, etc... This creates little pockets of soft ice.
4. If there are any springs or warmer water they find the soft ice pocket and create sink holes. Yes I found one of them at Rire. I believe the warm water from the melting snow went in the Res then found a soft spot and created a sink hole. I went all the way in, scared the crud out of me. There was 14" of ice all the way around me no problem getting out... just the perfect size hole to swallow me.
Be careful out there. Remember there is a calculated risk in all activities. Your risk factor goes up from here on out.
Windriver
[signature]
1. The melting snow lifts the cap and seperates the ice from the edge. Without really cold weather the warm water on the edge wears away at the edge ice creating punk (soft) ice.
2. The longer days and the continual sunlight soften the ice even if it freezes at night the thawing/freezing action makes the ice soft and may create unsafe gaps lines etc...
3. The sunlight warms anything on or around the ice like sticks, rocks, etc... This creates little pockets of soft ice.
4. If there are any springs or warmer water they find the soft ice pocket and create sink holes. Yes I found one of them at Rire. I believe the warm water from the melting snow went in the Res then found a soft spot and created a sink hole. I went all the way in, scared the crud out of me. There was 14" of ice all the way around me no problem getting out... just the perfect size hole to swallow me.
Be careful out there. Remember there is a calculated risk in all activities. Your risk factor goes up from here on out.
Windriver
[signature]