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Through the Ice
By Blaze68x
Posted 3/8/19     265 views
The April snowstorm surprised everyone in the area when the predicted rain forecast changed and the storm dumped over a foot of snow on us. After a couple weeks of nice spring-like weather, our plans had been to spend the day doing yard work but the low 20 degree temps and the snow killed that idea. One quick trip outside and Suzy came back with an idea; "Let's take the x-country skis out one last time" she suggested. I agreed without any discussion or debate and she laid out our clothes while I packed the skis and our other gear.
She was dressing when I came back in the house, and I quickly stripped down to change too. Both of us layered up, first in Under Armour, then jeans, cotton turtlenecks, thick ribbed turtleneck sweaters and down vests. We threw a bag of extra clothes in the car and headed off to one of the converted railroad beds in a nearby town that had become a bike path, looking for easy grades and a flat, clean surface to ski on. Ten minutes from home, as we passed a local lake, we noticed people ice fishing and a few snowmobiles out on the ice as well. "There's still good ice" she said, "let's go around the lake instead". and with my agreement and a quick left turn, we headed to the beach area and boat ramp to park.
Geared up, we quickly headed out, but not before noticing a foot or two of the edge ice of the lake collapsing as we skied over it. As we left the cove where we started, the sun was bright and we could feel the temperature already starting to climb. Heading north, we trekked the mile and a half to the far end and headed back down the opposite side. Just after turning back, we ran into a group of people we knew ice fishing and ended up stopping to visit and eat after their repeated insistence.
We stayed for a couple hours, visiting, drinking beer, and watching countless fish being pulled through the ice, all while enjoying the rising temps and the nice, sunny day. Finally, after taking a break from the food and beverages, we were ready to head back. Up on our skis, we started down and across the lake, before long noticing that as we hit the area that had been in the sun all day, we were in slush and water, much more so than snow. Before long, we were wet to our knees, even though the going was still pretty decent, as our skis glided through the slippery mess. Things got wetter and wetter as we closed in on where we were parked, until we finally realized that we were now on nothing but water covered ice, which made staying erect a challenge, to say the least.
Rounding the bend to the cove, and our car, she stopped and looked at me, then looked back at the last few hundred yards we had to cover. Nothing but pooled water on the ice, a couple guys in tall rubber boots still fishing, and a group of kids playing near the shore, smashing the ice with rocks. We discussed, and looked for, an alternate route to the shoreline, but short of walking through someones' back yard, there was none. "Screw it, we're already wet" she said as she pushed off through the water with me closely behind. "I don't care" I said, even though we were already moving.
Closer to the parking area with every glide, we suddenly realized that the ice had receded from the shoreline quite a bit and there was open water between the ice and where we wanted to go. We watched the kids smashing the ice around the edges, and surmised that we had come onto the lake with very little ice, under a whole lot of snow, and the skis supported us over it, but now it was time to go back, and we were going to get wet.
The fishermen noticed us and where we were heading, and sounded off about the ice being kind of thin in that area. We gave them a "thumbs up" acknowledgement of their cautions, but headed over anyway, but a bit more cautiously. We knew that the beach area sloped down gradually, and had hoped that the ice was thick enough to support us, at least until we got to shallow water.
Maybe within a hundred feet of the shore, we stopped and surveyed the situation, realizing that our skis needed to come off before we hit the waters edge. We stepped out of and shouldered them, and began to walk gingerly across the wet and slippery ice, expecting it to let go about the time we hit the shallow water.
We were fifty feet from the edge when the ice cracked, and in a panic, Suzy tried to move too fast in her hard sole ski shoes, slipped, and ended up on her ass in the freezing water. As I helped her up she pointed out the obvious, that her jeans were now soaked, and off she walked, with a bit of an "attitude" about being soaking wet. As I followed her sliding sliding our feet along now in the water over the slick ice, I told her to slow down and be careful not to fall through yet. The words just about left my mouth when she stopped abruptly. I heard her say "Shit!" and look down as the ice slowly gave way under her. She didn't panic, or move too fast, but just looked at me as she sank a couple inches, and suddenly she was in up to her armpits. She flung her skis and poles almost immediately and tried to pull herself up out of the water, but the ice gave way again. I gingerly approached her and offered a ski to pull her out with, but as she got up on the ice, it gave way again under her weight and in she went, this time almost over her head. She told me that she was at the edge of the drop-off from the beach and turned back towards shore. Then she asked me to get past her and try pulling her out with a ski again. I should have known better, but not thinking, I maneuvered around her hole and offered the ski to her. Just about the time she had a firm hold on it and I began to pull, I felt the ice beneath me let go and I was in up to my waist. At first the water was cold, but the layers we were wearing ended up acting like a wet suit and holding in some of our body heat. Now with both of us in the water, and the ice breaking every time we tried to get out, we needed a new plan. She called me to make my way over to her, and she started towards me, and each time we crawled up on the ice, we broke through and got closer together. Finally our holes connected, and with both of us soaked from head to toe, we turned back towards shore, waded over to the ice, and started breaking our way toward the beach. In just a couple minutes, we were in water shallow enough to just step up and break the remaining ice and make it to the beach.
By the time we got on dry land, we were both laughing about what had happened, and the sun and the relatively warm air eased any discomfort of our wet clothes, but we went to the car anyways and blasted the heater for about 15 minutes.
By the time we had warmed up, we realized that we still needed to get our skis and poles off the ice. While trying to discuss a plan to do it without going back through, she stopped me abruptly and said "We're already wet, what does it matter?", and stepped out of the car. I killed the engine and joined her as we walked down the beach. Without any indication of hesitation, she simply walked into the water, turned and said "You coming?" and continued out to where she was thigh deep. As I caught up with her, she referenced Maine, and our rafting trips, pointing out that this water was probably a bit warmer. We continued to wade out to where we fell through, and when we were chest deep, she surprised me by swimming the last few strokes to the edge of the ice. Our stuff was scattered about, and the plan was to boost her up onto the ice, gather it all up and return to the hole and wade to shore, which we did. However, given the possibility of falling through again, she chose to crawl through the icy water to get our gear and bring it back. Returning to the edge, she sat up, dangling her legs in the water, and finally slipped back in, this time dipping herself down deep enough in the water to submerge her shoulders and wet the neck of her sweater. Smiling at me, she grabbed some of the gear and headed towards shore, and I followed with the rest.
Out we came, dripping wet, and headed to the car, stowing the gear quickly and climbing back inside. Just as I started the engine, she looked over at me and said "One last swim?" as she was opening the door. Over my protest of the cold water, she was out of the car and heading back to the water. I reluctantly joined and we ran the last few steps on dry land and into the water, running until we couldn't, and then diving straight into the icy cold. We surfaced together, swam a few strokes, and when our feet hit bottom, decided that enough was enough and headed back to the car.
20 minutes later we were home, still in our wet clothes. As I opened the front door, she walked right past me and right through the house to the rear slider and the patio. I followed her out as she was taking her shoes off, and she told me to grab the hot tub cover. We looked at the 104 degree water steaming away, and there was no question - fully clothed and in we went, smiles on both of our faces.
"Well, that was different" she said to me, referencing the lake. "But it was all worth it, knowing that we'd be in here like this before the day was done." And we sat back and enjoyed ourselves, soaking fully clothed in our hot tub as the evening set in.
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