Pineview on Ice

At our first music makers class of the new year we got caught up in a conversation amongst the group about frozen Pineview and the rare phenomenon of it being frozen yet clear of snow.  After a few very adamant testimonials from a couple of moms about how magical, surreal, awesome, "you've GOT to go before it snows!" it was, I let their peer pressure (and this viral video they mentioned) talk me into our own pilgrimage down to the lake the next day (4 Jan).  

We chose our usual Old Highway beach access point, mostly because the bike path to get there was clear of snow and the day was sunny and Cal was itching for a bike ride.  So I pushed Sam in the Burley and Cal pedaled her pink prize and we made our way to the ice.  The first thing we noticed was a big log sticking straight up out of a hole in the ice.  It wasn't far from the edge and we slid-walked our way to explore it.  Sam was not impressed with the whole ice experience.  He did not want to stand or walk on his own, so I ended up carrying him the whole time.  Cal, on the other hand, was digging it; she shuffled around on her shoes, kicking rocks, noticing the different textures of the surface of the lake, and pointing out cracks and skate marks.  It was fun to see our neighbor (and Sam's nursery teacher) Jan Wight out there skating along the edge of the lake till we could barely see her anymore.

Don't let his smile fool you.  He wasn't having
any fun out there.

bonus video!

on the ice

The frost pooches were pretty awesome.  Those crystals were
so long!

A sort of sketchy crack - but it was totally iced
over, so it wasn't really as sketchy as it looked.

"wrinkly ice" (Cal's word for it)

My first time on a frozen lake!

Showing us how he truly felt about the experience.

bonus video!

slippery stuff

Serene setting sun.

We (minus Sam) liked it so much we convinced Gregg to join us the next afternoon (5 Jan) to check it out for himself.  It really was pretty surreal to realize the solid ground we were standing on was actually frozen water, and in the summer it would be over our heads.  While we were out there we could hear distant booms of the ice shifting.  But nothing was too close or scary (unlike my friend who went the next day (to a different place) and had a giant crack appear right between her and her husband while they were standing on it!).  We left convinced that we need to wrangle up some skates if we're going to live here for any more winters.  How cool would it be to skate around the whole lake?!  We just need to convince Mr. Sam-pants that its a good/fun/worthy idea.

They humored me with a feet pic.  We're standing on the lake!

Silhouette attempt.

Winter lover.
I loved this field of frost pockets.

Pretty cracks.

Frozen waves.

Serene setting sun, a sequel.