Does anyone have experience or advice with canoeing across partial frozen lakes? In a week we will be heading North to Yellowknife NT for a fly-in (July 7) to the Lockhart River system (MacKay-Aylmer Lakes) for a 5 week trip across and along the western portion of that drainage. Until last week the weather up there was unseasonably cool, and we may encounter areas to the East where the lake may still be partially frozen. Or areas where wind driven ice still persists against the south shore. This is a fairly leisurely trip (<200 miles over a 5 week span) , so my caution would be reinforced by patience too. Other than having read Jon Turk’s (Cold Oceans) exploits of "ice-kayaking" near Ellesmere Island in the Arctic archipelago, and some of the early explorers such as Richardson on the approach to the Coppermine River (and journey along the Arctic Coast in 1821) , I am rather clueless about the practical aspects and methods of crossing ice, with a canoe. We are using a 17’ Old Town, and have kevlar skid plates, and good ropes. For foot wear I usually use running shoes with good soles, and neoprene socks, figuring and "dunking" will be slightly less risky without heavy foot gear. (Not that 35F water would permit a lot of time to ponder the wisdom of foot wear). Any suggestions? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Jun 19 1999 - 12:27:13 PDT
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