Willoughby Lake update

[Ken Stowe]

Willoughby Lake. February 12. Skating was quite good this morning   Better than I expected. Skating from the boat launch has much more promise for Pleasant gliding than the chopped up south end.

The dark plate of new ice is the best skating on the lake. I will be there early and may be able to come back to the boat launch to meet you if you have a target time to arrive. 

My recent experience may be useful to get to the best ice.

From the boat launch keep right heading north once you get out onto the dark plate. You will be staying to the east of a 20-foot channel of open water. The dark plate is 3 inches thick. The gray ice is older and is about 5 inches thick when you get near the north end grey ice , you will be able to go to the north of the end of the open water and you can turn back south and have a long, beautiful skate. Caution: the pressure crack has opened up with the last warm spell. My suggestion is to go well to the north of it. 

I hope to skate with a few safety-conscious skaters because there is much of the lake that I have not yet explored this year. The surface is good orange peel on the new ice. Bumpy orange peel on a lot of the gray ice.