Several ponds in Ryegate/Groton VT area Dec 21, 2023

[Dr Jo]

Ticklenaked Pond:  Best waterbody name hands down, and best ice: fantastically smooth, very light grey glass.  The kind that makes you laugh just skating it.  Few, and very visible, thin spots on edges.  Beautiful surrounds.  Get it while you can.

Symes Pond:  See Chris B's report from yesterday, copied below.  All still accurate.  We used a board to cross the ~2 foot iffy onboarding ice, likely unnecessary after another cold night.  This is a really special place with an unfortunate access road and very limited parking situation.  But once there... The open water area lapping the solid skateable ice, the natural surrounds... mesmerizing. 

Ricker Pond, in Groton State Forest:  Lovely little pond with beautifully smooth, clear, light grey ice, easy onboarding at the southern end at a small parking area.  While there was lots of skateable thick solid ice, we gave a wide berth to where we could see the mottling that indicated current running underneath, still strong after the torrential rain earlier in the week and thinning the ice from underneath.  Still, we were spooked discovering hollow sounding areas further than anticipated and while it still tested at 2", seemed weaker.  Giving this one more time, esp with others to try nearby.

Lake Groton, just north of Ricker:  Could not find easy access, required either trespassing or long walks in from unplowed, gated state park areas.  Also suspected that the same water current issues affecting Ricker Pond were active here as we could see similarly mottled coloration, and more inlets enter this larger lake.  And like Ricker, beautiful smooth light gray surface from shore to shore away from inlets. 

Kettle Pond, just north of Lake Groton:  Stunning. Simply gobsmackingly beautiful pond and surrounds reached by an easy, flat, five minute walk from the generous parking area.  Easy onboarding.  Variable ice conditions from beautifully smooth snow ice to lightly bumpy to occasionally catchy.  Areas streaked with drifty snow, mostly the quiet soft skateable kind but occasionally could cause a stumble.  Still so worth it.  Few hazards, very visible.

Other reporters have noted many additional ponds within striking distance of these as great options in coming days.  Happy skating!

Jo

On 12/20/2023 Chris Boone wrote, <<Symes Pond, also in Ryegate but farther off the main roads, was also very nice. Not as perfectly smooth as Ticklenaked, and not as consistent, but still great. Access is much trickier: the road in (Lower Hunt Mill Road, off Symes Pond Road) is in rough shape, with a small washed out section, some flooded sections, and some ice sheet sections. GPS doesn’t know about the access area (I checked all the major services, Google, Apple, the Open Street Map derivatives), and cell service is weak. There’s almost no parking at the access area. And, perhaps worst of all, the launch is at the outlet of the pond, so there’s currently a large area of rapidly moving open water immediately to the left of where you get on the ice. The upper part of the pond is open water as well. All that said, it’s a beautiful spot, and feels very remote. Lots of interesting shoreline, with marshy areas, small islands, and interesting dri-ki.>>

[David Huck]

Central VT is still seemingly devoid of excellent ice. If anyone is planning to skate ticklenaked this afternoon or even this morning I would love to join.

David

510-504-5566

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From: vtnordi...@googlegroups.com <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Dr Jo <dr...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2023 9:47:07 PM
To: vtnordicskating@googlegroups com <vtnordi...@googlegroups.com>; nhnordicskating@googlegroups com <nhnordi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [vtnordicskating] Several ponds in Ryegate/Groton VT area Dec 21, 2023

 

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