Ice Thickness?

[02zr600]

does anybody out there know the ice depth on lake gogebic? we are coming up to ride that area wednesday and would like to know if the lake is safe to travel on.

 

[booondocker]

Just south of there, a polaris side by side went thru with two fishermen. They made it off before it went out of sight...Hey, it's December yet, and not a bunch of cold before the snows came in, so that means lots of snow over thinner ice.

Use your head....be safe, and just wait awhile to get out there. It will get hard eventually, but there is no safe ice you can count on...shore to shore.

 

[snow_monkey]

We allways let the oldest sled go first!

 

[slimcake]

It would be nice to know. I have our trip firmed up for the 10th of jan thru the 15th. I was told last year that jan is "always safe" but I stay pretty nervous with the size and snowcover on that big lake!! Any locals wanna chime in?? We stay just north of the gogebic lodge and only want to ride from there north to the hoop ect.... Anyone??

 

[harvest1121]

You have 2 weeks with all the traffic from this week the snow should get packed and make ice. You can always take the trail if the lake is not froze. Here are some tracks on it just stay on the beaten path.

 

[02zr600]

we called some locals around the lake and got anywhere from 4-8 in of ice. somebody did say that he figured the lake would make pretty good ice from now on with the beat down path, but i think we will stay off it since we are going up wednesday.

 

[heartdwn]

Ice in Bergland Bay/Lake Gogebic

The ice varies in the bay. Lots of slush under the snowpack. It should be in better condition when you come up but ask the locals and the bar owners they know it the best.

 

[united]

Looks like a lot of tracks on the Northwoods Cam Network (check it out on the left side of the board CAMS) also sled in the picture right now. Call the Hoop, Root Cellar, Gogebic Lodge.

Should be ok if you go fast enough right? Just kidding check it out. Watch out for ice heaves and piers. It might be a little early to worry about plowed ice house roads but you never know.

 

[united]

Also looks like a good report under Area Conditions section. He says there are already some kind of ice heaves / ridges.

 

[barneymn]

We allways let the oldest sled go first!

LOL..I will remeber that one!

 

[chords]

We allways let the oldest sled go first!

Past Jan on a large MI lake, we felt safe walking and setting up a shanty in deeper 20' water on 3-4" of ice about 1/2 mi from shore. Next morning as we are again walking out 2 guys come screamin' up to us on sleds and one heads out towards deeper water where the ice is thinner and our shanty is.
I mentioned to the Sheriff/DNR with us "That ice is pretty thin out there" He says "Deputies are Expendable" That was good enough for me. That afternoon and thereafter we rode.

Why not ride the lake shoreline in shallow water with thick ice ?

 

[chords]

I found an old picture. Obvious where the dividing line is. I would feel safe on top of 4 or 5ft water depth.

 

[snow_monkey]

Last week 2 sleds at the bottom of pontiac lake waterford mich.

 

[Brandon on Lk Gogebic]

02zr600,
I drilled a hole yesterday in front of the resort. We are on the west shore 2/3 of the way down the lake. I had 6" of ice with no slush on top. Today there was some slush when I went out to set a tip up but only an inch.

The ice will vary in different parts of the lake. If I were to ride the lake right now I would stay on the paths created by others. Its like a supper highway usually between the main access points to the lake. Later in the year I prefer to go out in the powder its a smoother ride but you burn more gas for the same distance.