March 18, 2011

The battle between the seasons continues on and around Lake Wicwas.  Winter launched a feeble attack on Wednesday with a few inches of snow, but today Spring made a major assault, bringing in warm air on strong west winds, raising temperatures all the way to 65 degrees.  The new snow freshened up the ski trails again, and it was so warm I skied in shorts and a t-shirt.  I saw no animal tracks since the snow on Wednesday.

Out in the middle of the lake in the afternoon I could hear water running - it was the ice melting and flowing down through the porous top layer of ice.  I cut a hole and found there is still 25 inches of ice just ten feet out from shore, with a good nine inches of solid ice below 16 inches of soft ice.  It may be the end of venturing onto the ice though, as the edges of the lake are getting  thin now.

At the outlet there were some large open areas by mid afternoon, with a strong rush of water flowing over the dam, and the stream flooding wide onto its overflow paths.

West from Meredith Center Road

But here is a sign of who will ultimately win this battle.  Even though these are right next to the house, the signs of life pushing up, right through the ice and snow, show that spring is coming to Lake Wicwas.