I really don’t enjoy hiking, as a mater of fact I find every step to be quite unpleasant. However, I have hiked up and skated Sterling Pond. Several of us did it the day before Thanksgiving, a few years back, and that was worth it. If Smugger’s is making snow, but not opened yet , skinning up and skiing down after skating makes it extremely worth it. I would join you on Sterling. But I walk uphill slower than the speed of a snail. Once on the ice, that slow-pokiness is entirely gone. Then the need for speed awakens in me.
I am sure Lake In The Clouds will be frozen before Halloween. Just last week at the end of our heat wave, they hit 32 already. But that hike would take me all damned day, and there would be no time to skate, then it would get dark and I would be in a heap of trouble.
Do you have a drysuit? When on early season ice, especially so far away from the warm car, a drysuit is highly recommended.
Diana