Looking for ice

Dave and I headed to Poolburn today to see if any ice had survived the stormy weather.  We were surprised to find snow all over the Ida valley with temps around -6.  Looked amazing.  I wasn't that confident we would be able to reach the dam but the road was passable due to farmers having pushed a track through.  Poolburn looked fabulous surrounded in snow.  All the previous ice had gone.  New ice had formed over the last 2 days and managed a crackly skate at the edge of the main bay before moving over to the little bay where the skating was great.  Only 30-40mm of black ice but held ok.  Rest of the lake was too thin with water showing in a lot of places.  Heading back we stopped at Oturehua for a skate at the domain.   Great day out exploring.   

Still Ice...

After an ok frost this morning I went up to Poolburn today to see if any ice had survived from my last visit.  Quite a bit of water compared to last week but there was evidence the ice had thickened before melting again around the edges.  I had a great skate across the main bay but was careful to keep away from the weak and open areas.  Well worth the visit.

Also had a skate at Dansey's on the way home.   

Coalpit and Ida had some ice but were a few frosts away from anything skateable.

Smooth and Black

 Back up to Poolburn today before heading home.  Arrived to clear sky and a reasonable frost.  Headed over to the far bay first to see if the ice had improved.  Ice was thicker than yesterday and was able to safely skate quite a way out.  Then moved to the main bay and was treated to a great skate. Clear black ice!   Ice still varied a bit and had to take care.  Another frost or two would really set it up.

On the way back I stopped in for a skate in the domain pond in Oturehua - just because I could....

A skate at last...

Bit of a wait this year for the cold weather.  Set off yesterday for a look around the skating spots.  Managed to get the skates on a very small pool by a creek but nothing much else.  Today was better.  Visit to Poolburn and more ice than yesterday and had a great first skate at the shaded edge of the main bay.  Ice was clear, hard and almost thick enough but held my weight ok.   Had a look in a few other places and had a wee skate at the edge behind the dam.    (Needs a few more frosts)

Water level is very low this year and making the resevoir edges  look quite different.  Track is rough but mainly dry with a big water hole at the top.

A rare skate near home!

A good frost this morning had me up and checking the closest skating spot to home - just 20km away. A good sized pond in a shadow of a hill.  Fabulous ice about 7cm thick.  Great skate!

 

Just enough....

Dave and I headed to Poolburn this morning to see if the freeze had iced up the lake.  About 30mm of new ice over some of the lake.  We had a look around and managed to get a scratchy skate in the corner of the main bay and a better skate and the end of the far bay. Black ice, hard and smooth but talking all the time so we didn't go too far.  Great fun skate.  Good to catch up with Inge as well - on a fabulous blue sky winter day.

Snow ice!

After the storm I decided to take the bike and have a look around Naseby as the temps have been quite low.   After a bit of excellent  forest riding in the snow I had a skate in two places on snow ice.  Ice was good considering the weather but not very strong. Not my favourite ice but great to skate again.