Icebreaking–Last Canoe Trip of the Year
Last week Martel Lake froze and I thought canoeing was done for the year.
This week we got a warm spell – temp in the 40’s F – so I decided to give canoeing one last shot.
I love icebreaking in a canoe. The ice was crumbly around my dock and along the shore so I was pretty sure I could make it to open water.
I wanted to get some crunchy icebreaking sounds so I stuck my trusty Zoom H2 in my jacket pocket and got this [crunchy ice with intermittent narrative at 2:00; best crunching sounds start at 4:05]:
I was too busy breaking through the ice to take pix until we hit the open lake.
My dock is in the distance just right and up from center. We paddled through the thin shore ice and then broke through the white patch above.
It felt good to break through to clear water. Icebreaking with a canoe is great arm exercise because you need to chop into the ice with the paddle and haul the canoe forward up onto the ice, breaking it with the weight of the canoe. Repeat until clear of ice.
Thin ice you can just cruise through. It makes a tinkly sound as it shatters.
Mika and Travis were not happy with our expedition. It’s Wisconsin’s Annual War Against Deer and gunshots in the distance kept them nervous.
After our icebreaking adventure I tied Mika to a tree and put away the boats and accessories for the winter. I hung lifejackets from the rafters of the screen porch while Travis watched, amused:
I pulled my canoe onto the bank, where snow will soon cover it.
The next time I canoe I’ll hear loons.
Walden 3.0 
Get OFF MY LAWN!