orin wrote:Pete,
Your pics of Lake McD got me wondering about the probability that Bowman Lake would freeze solidly by late Feb. or so. I was thinking about a winter camping trip to Bowman Lake. It would be cool to snowshoe or ski straight up the frozen lake but it would be a disaster to fall through the ice. I know that Lake McD doesn't freeze over completely a lot of years. Do you or anyone else know how hard Bowman freezes during an average winter? Obviously it could vary a lot from year to year.
Hey Orin:
The short answer is I don't know how often Bowman freezes over. I never really thought about camping out there in the winter until recently.
EarMountain or one of the locals like
chewy might know.
The water temps have to be near freezing with the persistent cold weather we've had, beginning early this season.
The South, Middle, North Forks have all had ice flows in them this year....as well as the main stem of the Flathead.
The water is
cold already around here. So if temps stay low, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the lakes in the park freeze.
Guys that I know who icefish say there are already a lot of the shallow lakes frozen hard enough to ice fish on.
I can't ski well enough to ski to Bowman, but I believe I can snowshoe it once the snow settles in late winter.
If I do it, I'll wait till a nice high pressure builds in from the W/SW. That will clear things out without the bitter cold air of an Alberta High sinking in from the North.
And,
of course, it has to last
3 days since I want to do 2 nights so I can spend a whole day snowshoeing around the area.
I have a couple of little sled things I may experiment with to see if I can use one of them for carrying gear on a trip to Bowman.
I
think the mountain set an opening weekend record this weekend. So this could be an interesting winter.
If I can remember, I'll ask Reggie Altop, one of the Polebridge Station rangers, about Bowman. He almost certainly knows.
later
pete
PS
GeezerPete ain't going out on any frozen lake for
any reason.
I grew up in central Florida in the "City of a Hundred Lakes".
I learned to swim and water ski not long after walking. My Dad was on the U.S. Water Ski Team in the 1930"s
But!...old GeezerPete stays the heck off of
frozen lakes
I know from observation that lakes can be frozen 12-18" thick and still have thin spots due to creeks draining into them, or springs welling up in odd places, etc. I snowshoe
alone. Going through the ice is just not an option for me. I stay clear of the lakes.