October 21, 2018: October Ice

First ice of the season

Yes, that is ice on Lake Wicwas.  Only in one protected cove, but nonetheless, on October 19th, it's the earliest I remember seeing ice on the lake.  The prior earliest date in my records was on October 28th, back in 2011, and that occurred where I usually see first ice, in a marsh beside Sheep Island.  This year it formed on a night when the temperature dropped to 28 degrees and there was a light frost with a few ice crystals forming on low-growing leaves.

There should be more opportunities to see these form over the next few weeks.

We took a trip to Colorado last week and there was a lot more ice and snow out there, at least at elevations above 10,000 feet.

Colorado's Front Range

Not to be outdone, New Hampshire's Mount Washington, almost 4000 feet lower in elevation, also had some snow last week, but they weren't skiing there like they were at 12,000 foot high Loveland Pass in Colorado.

Ski tracks in Loveland Pass

At lower elevation we found a New England Thanksgiving favorite.

Two of a large flock of turkeys at Castlewood Canyon State Park

It seems turkeys are just a plentiful in Colorado as they have become here over the last 20 years.

On a couple of hikes in Steamboat Springs I found larger wildlife up at snow level, and signs of  even larger wildlife down below the snow line.

Mule deer on Mount Werner

Bear scat on Emerald Mountain

That's one large pile of bear scat - larger than those I find in the Lakes Region.

It was nice to find some good color in the trees when we returned, though the peak color is moving south now.

Still color as of today (from the boat ramp)

I was out on the lake yesterday; it was pretty, but rather windy so I didn't see any bird action, but I did hear a loon on the lake earlier in the week.

If you drove up to the lakes from the south this weekend you probably had a beautiful trip.  I'm still planning on another hike or two to take advantage of the fall weather and the increased viewing through bare branches on the trees.  Maybe a few more paddles on the lake too - we'll see what the weather brings us.