Way to make it through winter

Rob Keeble

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Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Yesterday i was in Arrowhead Provincial park introducing my new Canadians to the winter outdoors.

After my knee replacement i never thought i would do something like this but yesterday was exhilarating we went snow tubing while it was snowing.

Had a fantastic time, put my foot down to try slow myself down a tad and lol got an ice shower full face, was how i would imagine driving a car in ice rain would be without the windshield.
Lol

Then we headed got them to walk out on a frozen lake. Had to chuckle to myself . First time one does that its nerve racking.

After that it was beer thirty and we went to a local pub for refreshing Muskoka cream ale, oh it was smooth.

Great reminder to engage the outdoors in winter.
 
Sorry, but my idea of making it through winter would be to head south to somewhere along the equator.... SNOW is a four letter word.

Fortunately we haven't had winter here yet... low temps have been just at or only a degree or two below freezing and only a day here and there
at that... high today will be around 57 deg, tomorrow,Tuesday & Wednesday in low to mid 60's and Thursday about 50.
 
Reading about your cold adventure is not my idea of winter fun. It is in the 30's here today and that is considered too cold. But it will get up to the 70's later this week. If I ever have to move it will be further south, sure not north. It might be only a 1/2 mile but it will be further south. :thumb:
 
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Hah taking folks out into snow who've never been in it before is a lot of fun. I got to do just a little of that with my cousin and his kids from Australia, but we didn't have a frozen lake unfortunately. They did get to build a snowman later that trip which everyone was super excited about :)

Loml grew up in AZ and as we were shoveling the large pile of snow off of the drive over to the other side of the retaining wall to slow down the river of ice from it melting I had her stacking the blocks so we could make a larger pile in a smaller space. I commented that this was the snow fort she'd missed out on making as a kid, there was some response about how continuing to miss it would be just fine :D.

We're 40 some days over the historical record for continuous snow on the ground here this year. I just ordered a 2500w heater because it's been in the low 40s or colder in the attached garage for pushing three months which is just way too long.
 
i hope you checked the thickness of the ice, just because its frozen doesnt mean it will hold you or others. minimum 3" preferred 4" but that can vary from one spot to the next because of the way it froze up.
 
35 or 40 years ago I might have considered that to be fun, or sorta fun. About 44 years ago I went through desert, jungle and then winter/arctic survival training for the Marines. That arctic stuff ain't for Texans. Froze my butt off, but did manage to eat somewhat well. Not interested in doing anything like that again. But for those who have fun doing that sort of thing I send them all of my greetings, best wishes, and so on and let them have at it. Every time I think about that arctic stuff I think of those Marines on that sub in the movie Ice Station Zebra. Glad I never had to do anything like that. I would have been highly discontented. :eek:
 
Sounds like a fun day Rob. It was almost 60 degrees here today, got to spend some quality time out in the yard with the grandson, but sure would like to have a snow day to share with him as well.
 
Sounds like a good time, Rob. My body can't take the cold like it used to, but I've had fun in the snow in years past.

When I was in about 3rd grade, we were living in Los Alamos NM, which is at about 7300 feet in elevation. They get a fair amount of snow there, about 4 1/2 feet per year on average. One winter we went to central Texas for Thanksgiving to visit relatives, and they had a Blue Norther blow in that left a lot of ice and a few inches of snow. To us, it was a pretty light snowfall, but to the locals it was the storm of the decade. I remember we showed up at one of my dad's cousins' house one day and were met at the door by his son, a kid about my age whom I'd never met. He came running up to me, all out of breath, and says "Y'all ever seen a snowball? I got a whole bucket of 'em out on the back porch!" :D
 
Bud your comment did not go unnoticed, i had made sure there was 8 inches of ice before we ventured onto it. This Canuck owns a ice auger and has been ice fishing already this season. Can only claim one small Perch though so need more practice. ;)
Have you been out on the ice yet this season? Or have the Michigander crew of our forum gone soft and sitting by the woodstove nice and warm ? 😉😉😉😉
 
That second picture looks like he is trying to paddle with an axe!!!! One perch? Need to come down here, my son in law will show you how to ice fish. He lives to fish off of the ice. He now stops going when a sheet of plywood needs to be laid across the open water from shore to ice. Yeah, he is kind of extreme.
 
That second picture looks like he is trying to paddle with an axe!!!! One perch? Need to come down here, my son in law will show you how to ice fish. He lives to fish off of the ice. He now stops going when a sheet of plywood needs to be laid across the open water from shore to ice. Yeah, he is kind of extreme.

Jon, That's me back in the day paddling with the axe on a machine that belonged to one of the young guys who worked for me. Had just dropped a small tree to bridge out to the machine so we could get a line on it. The kid was always getting himself into jams like this. Later that same trip he went off on his own and buried that machine in a steep ravine. We found the machine just as it got dark, but Tom had decided to walk out cross country, at night in 20 below weather. He got lost and tried to signal with a beautiful Ithaca double barrel shotgun he had borrowed from another crew member. When he fired, the barrel split into a "Y" for about the last twelve inches. Snow packed in the barrel will do that.:( Lots of stories about that kid. He was a walking disaster!
 
Well Larry its been testy here on Lake Simcoe in January, but we got some good enough to hold three Police snow machines and their occupants when checking our fishing licenses.
My New Canadian was pretty apprehensive when they showed up. Lol.
Going to go out a few more times this season if this cold spell hold on.
 
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