March
12
12
Ice Out!
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Photo taken Tuesday March 11, 2014 - this shows how the water from the channel is gradually edging its way out into the lake...spring is coming![/caption]
If you're from the Lakes Region of New Hampshire , this is a familiar refrain of the locals announcing the harbinger of things to come...such as the long awaited warm weather of summer. Most lakes in the area have some form of "ice out", but some go so far as to promote contests to see who can guess the day and the hour that the official ice out takes place. After 23 years selling real estate on Squam Lake, I have become familiar with the term, and the many stories that go along with it. I have even seen what local residents will do to advance the timing of this seasonal phenomena. Not many years ago, I witnessed a small power boat captained by one of the locals, acting as an ice breaker, trying its darnedest to advance the natural course of events. Not that it did much good. You see, Mother Nature likes to do things in her own time and in her own way, and after several tries at "ramming speed", the boat and its owner gave way to common sense and putted on back home, dented hull and all.
Well, you're asking, how is "ice out" determined anyway? Let me tell ya, on Squam, the word is that, if you can travel by boat from Sandwich Bay to the covered bridge in Ashland, that would be considered "ice out". Now that doesn't mean pushing your skiff along the ice on the still frozen portions of the lake, but navigating by open water between the two points.
Roger Gage, a good friend and long time resident of Holderness once told me that years ago, "ice out" on Squam was determined by placing a Christmas tree somewhere out on the frozen lake in January. He wasn't sure exactly where, but as spring approached, the day that the Christmas tree broke through the ice and disappeared beneath the waters, that was considered "ice out. How true this was, I cannot attest to, but it's a great story just the same.
Anyway, if you want to take part in the "ice out" contest on Squam, just stop by and plunk down your dollar bill at Walter's Basin in Holderness . Last year's winner walked (or floated) away with $20.00 cash, and bragging rights for a year. If betting ain't your thing, but you still want to know when "ice out" takes place this year, then just email me at: jerryl@peabodysmith.com and I'll let you know.
If you win, I'll buy you lunch at Walters when you're in the area this summer!
Photo taken Tuesday March 11, 2014 - this shows how the water from the channel is gradually edging its way out into the lake...spring is coming![/caption]
If you're from the Lakes Region of New Hampshire , this is a familiar refrain of the locals announcing the harbinger of things to come...such as the long awaited warm weather of summer. Most lakes in the area have some form of "ice out", but some go so far as to promote contests to see who can guess the day and the hour that the official ice out takes place. After 23 years selling real estate on Squam Lake, I have become familiar with the term, and the many stories that go along with it. I have even seen what local residents will do to advance the timing of this seasonal phenomena. Not many years ago, I witnessed a small power boat captained by one of the locals, acting as an ice breaker, trying its darnedest to advance the natural course of events. Not that it did much good. You see, Mother Nature likes to do things in her own time and in her own way, and after several tries at "ramming speed", the boat and its owner gave way to common sense and putted on back home, dented hull and all.
Well, you're asking, how is "ice out" determined anyway? Let me tell ya, on Squam, the word is that, if you can travel by boat from Sandwich Bay to the covered bridge in Ashland, that would be considered "ice out". Now that doesn't mean pushing your skiff along the ice on the still frozen portions of the lake, but navigating by open water between the two points.
Roger Gage, a good friend and long time resident of Holderness once told me that years ago, "ice out" on Squam was determined by placing a Christmas tree somewhere out on the frozen lake in January. He wasn't sure exactly where, but as spring approached, the day that the Christmas tree broke through the ice and disappeared beneath the waters, that was considered "ice out. How true this was, I cannot attest to, but it's a great story just the same.
Anyway, if you want to take part in the "ice out" contest on Squam, just stop by and plunk down your dollar bill at Walter's Basin in Holderness . Last year's winner walked (or floated) away with $20.00 cash, and bragging rights for a year. If betting ain't your thing, but you still want to know when "ice out" takes place this year, then just email me at: jerryl@peabodysmith.com and I'll let you know.
If you win, I'll buy you lunch at Walters when you're in the area this summer!