Conditions report: Ticklenaked and Symes Ponds, Ryegate, Vt — December 20, 2023

[Chris Boone]

Ticklenaked Pond, just off the interstate in Ryegate, was in gorgeous shape today. 4”+ of solid ice, a mixture of snow ice and black ice and combinations of the two, strong and smooth as can be. Everywhere I checked, other than the extreme edges of the pond, was thick and stable. The surrounding moat was minimal, maybe 2 feet of thin ice, easily bridged. Access is easy: the parking and launch are a couple hundred yards down a dirt road (frozen ruts right now, like all dirt roads in the area, but not bad). Plenty of space to park, and there’s even a toilet.

https://catamounthardware.com/atlas/vermont/ticklenaked-pond/
https://youtu.be/mQDBOTK0fN0

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.

https://catamounthardware.com/atlas/vermont/symes-pond/