Last weekend I hiked up to Loch Leven with my ice skates to investigate the alpine ice. It was sort of drizzling at first, but then at higher elevations it was more sleety with some mini graupel. The trail was almost completely clear of snow with only a few steps that were more than an inch deep. A few wet spots were icy though. Once I passed the ridge it was very windy. I don't think the temperature was much under freezing but I am sure the wind chill was severe. I drilled a few holes in the ice with an ice screw. I went in about 4 inches and didn't strike water although it looked like there was a bit of very thin ice and open water near the inlet. I stayed well clear of this area.
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| it was a gray and windy day |
Next I laced on the skates and started sliding about. The ice was decent but not all that smooth with a few snowy patches. The wind and the fact that I am not a particularly good skater and I think my skates are dull did not help. You could just sail downwind without doing anything - but upwind travel was a little more work.
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| my feet look really small here |
Once I started getting cold I switched back to my boots and slid down to the end of the lake before walking back. Sometimes I was unable to stand still with the wind - it just slid me sideways on the ice - luckily there wasn't a hole or anything too scary downwind of me.
This is a video I took when I was leaving.
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there was an odd texture where precipitation stuck to the ice
also note the snow blowing just right of the trees |
In other news, there were some new birds at city park - Canada geese and American wigeon
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| Canada goose head |
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| American wigeon |
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