Hardwater

[Black_Fly]

I saw some photos of a lake in N MN that had ice already. Anyone else have icing?

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

No ice yet. I am trying to wait patiently for snow to come. Haven't been able to ski the past 2 seasons (physical issues) and I will be going this year regardless of what the DR tells me in Nov. If he says NO, I will most likely have to lie to my wife.

 

[Odyssey]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, the fall colours are just peaking and the pumpkins are still in the fields. But like it or not one evening we'll go to bed dreaming of summer sunshine and next morning wake up to snow. Our Octobers are pleasantly unpredictable, our Novembers moody and ill tempered. Every month of each season brings surprises repeated every year as if brand new to my eyes, such as the wildlife I encounter just off the trails; a flock of wild turkeys foraging in a cut corn field looking like giant plump sparrows sitting in the sun, a herd of deer spooked by my passing dashing across in front of me within reach, so many garter snakes soaking up the late autumn sun before their winter slumbers.
My wife's and my own seasonal adjustment involves gently moving indoors, the yard furniture where I loafed in the summer heat with glass of wine in hand gets stored away and warm woolen blankets are pulled out and strewn about indoor reading chairs waiting for our own kind of hibernation, glass of wine in hand. But this changeover will be gradual, there's still laundry hung on the line and pumpkins in the field, and I'm going to bed still dreaming of summer sunshine.

 

[yellowcanoe]

We aren't ahead of ourselves. Snow is in the mountains at above 4000 feet and the colors peaked a few days ago. We had a big storm Thursday that sent 200,000 customers ( out of 700,000 statewide) into a dark place. The last will get power back today. However in the waiting area in the grocery store for my flu shot ( next to the butter display!) conversation turned to the stawhm last year that deposited six inches of white to the day.. ( There is always reminiscing among old people)
All the garden is killed.. 18 degrees last night did everything in. The pumpkins are of course rotting as they all do if frozen and few make it to Halloween unless coddled inside.
The lake is still not icing over as temps have been above freezing enough. And 50 degrees is not a bad temp for moving avalanches of leaves that are trying to enter the house. Our boats sit at the dock still.. maybe another spin to say farewell to the loons as they make their hardy( Not!) fall migration all of 15 miles. The big couch loons sit in saltwater in Casco Bay for the winter.

 

[BWCA66]

Planning a BWCA trip around the second weekend in November, hoping for open water otherwise it will be a hiking trip. Will probably have to stick to one of the river systems

 

[Penns Woods]

I'd like to echo what Odyssey said. I'm not looking forward to the winter weathermen are calling for here in the Northeast. Right after the Super Bowl I start counting the days till Spring. Winter seemed shorter back when I was younger and still playing hockey.

 

[Guest]

We have only just had our first frost, and that was local to our micro-climate zone. For one of the first times ever we remembered to bring in the houseplants that summered outside before they frosted.

Soon it will be bug-fee to paddle and camp swamps and marshes on the Eastern Shore. Don’t want another jinx, “largely” bug free; we’ve had salt marsh mosquitoes swarming on a warm December day at Assateague. And when it does get into winter, a trip south beckons.

I don’t much care for living mid-megalopolis mid-Atlantic, but for an east coast location there is a lot to offer within a couple/three hours drive; eastern shore swamps and marshes, Atlantic beachfront and barrier islands, Appalachian mountains, Pennsylvania rivers and creeks, VA/WVA rivers and creeks. Bump that up to an 8 hour drive and I can be north in the Adirondacks or south in the Carolinas.

Now if there were just fewer people.

 

[Black_Fly]

If these mud holes and rock washers around here had a bit more water, I'd be burning it up. Colors aren't quite to peak.

 

[stripperguy]

Tonight I’m in Dover DE stopping over from Virginia Beach family visit
i never seem to have time to stop at the water here in delmarva
As far as hard water goes, as much as I love to paddle and trip I like skiing even more
Particularly back country skiing where I have to earn my turns and every run is trackless
So I don’t mind the hard water interlude at all

 

[frozentripper]

Forecasts for Saturday morning (Oct 19) were predicting hard frost, maybe as low as -7C... that's cold enough to damage apples. Minus 3-4 degrees will be OK with the sugar in the apples acting like antifreeze, but that much frost meant harvesting bushel after bushel of apples Friday. But great weather to be outside in cold air and blue skies... fall forecast for southern Ontario has been for warmer than normal, and so far it's been great. I've added some pix to the photo of the day thread... prime time for anybody canoeing.

 

[Pook]

Well out here in Northern Alberta we've had frost for at least the last 3 weeks. A couple of snowfalls too but it hasn't stayed on the ground. Farmers still trying to get the crops in after a dismal wet summer.

Until the water gets really hard, we like to paddle whatever open water there is- yesterday on the Sturgeon River in St Albert at 8 degrees c.


"prime time for anybody canoeing"! dang right!
Bruce

 

[recped]

I was just on the Spanish for a 4 day run (Elbow to Agnew), there was some "hard water" but it was in my pot in the morning, the river was still soft (but cold). Overnight low was -2.3[SIZE=+1]°[/SIZE]c

Fall colours already peaked, some yellow but the red was done (this was a poor year for red in most of the "near north" of Ontario).