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March 11, 2015 Ice conditions - Lks Muskoka, Rosseau, Joe?


Blake G

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Does anyone have recent first hand experience with the ice conditions on any of these lakes?

A friend was out to Tobin Island on Rosseau yesterday (March 10) and said it was like sledding in wet cement. He does not like slush.

I rode yesterday (March 10) around noon from Indian Harbour down to the Narrows then over to Taboo. Saw 4 instances of slush, maybe 20 or 40 metres each time. Nt trouble getting through it, but one would hate to run into more extensive patches.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was out on them last weekend and they were excellent. I would suspect they will be in nice shape for the next few weeks. You been doing some running?

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I rode Lake Muskoka for 64 kilometres today, (Gravenhurst to Walker's Point, Milford Bay area) and spoke with contractors working at three different islands. None of them were able to tell me the ice thickness; they all said deterioration has been minimal, so they weren't worrying about checking for another week or two. Obviously there has been some deterioration in certain places - - the Narrows is now open, for example.

Most of the snow has melted from the top of the ice, leaving glare ice, crusty snow, and ruts. I spent most of my time cruising around at 40 to 60 kms per hours, with 100+ kph in only a few places that were smoother. What we need is a few inches of snow to provide lube and cushion the surface. Right now ice scratchers are a must for cooling and slide lubrication. Studs are helpful too.

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Someone in east bay drilled a hole today and found 3 inches of black ice and 3 inches of white ice. Either it's in a really unique spot or conditions are changing quickly.

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I have never snowmobiled in East Bay. Do you know which part of East Bay was tested?

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Thank you.

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Sorry but I am not familiar with Page's Point. Would you by any chance be able to specify which grid cell contains Page's Point or the drill hole??

Is it in a place frequented by snowmobiles?

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Easy to see how rumours can get started. LOL

I like the 3 plus 23 rumour better.

I've always been taught to avoid East Bay, Bala Bay, and especially The Kettles area.

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Someone in east bay drilled a hole today and found 3 inches of black ice and 3 inches of white ice. Either it's in a really unique spot or conditions are changing quickly.

Glad this was a misquote.
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For what it's worth, my family policy has always been to try and avoid anywhere south of the black line on this map. Not saying there's never any good ice in certain places, but we just avoid that whole part of the lake.

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I don't know a Lake Muskoka route to go from Gravenhurst to Bala, but I would like to learn one. The best I can do is go up Bear Bay and across to Pine Lake, then take Pine past the last narrows and hop off to catch C101D. Trail most of the way.

I am certainly open to suggestions.

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Sorry but I am not familiar with Page's Point. Would you by any chance be able to specify which grid cell contains Page's Point or the drill hole??

Is it in a place frequented by snowmobiles?

attachicon.gifPAGES POINT.jpg

Would be 5 D and C

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Thank you.

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I don't know a Lake Muskoka route to go from Gravenhurst to Bala, but I would like to learn one. The best I can do is go up Bear Bay and across to Pine Lake, then take Pine past the last narrows and hop off to catch C101D. Trail most of the way.

I am certainly open to suggestions.

Plus this year I was finally shown the route up Nine Mile Lake and Tar Lake, so that cuts down on the trail running considerably. I think the trip from The Wharf to Bala takes about 40 minutes.

Something else I've been wondering about is taking Lake Muskoka from Gravenhurst up to Dudley Bay, then running Dudley Road to get to C114 and then Bala or Glen Orchard. I was thinking that might be a good way to get to Lake Joe from Gravenhurst in late seasson, with as short a road run as possible.

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Could you post up a map of the nine mile lake route and the pine lake route that you are talking about? I love running these back lakes and learned about taking Deer, Pigeon, Pine to Ghurst bay a few years back. 

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pm sent

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Lake Muskoka was better for running today. 2 cms of snow last night and temps around zero this afternoon smoothed out the bumps and provided adequate lube for cooling. We saw 8 or 10 sleds between Gravenhurst and Milford Bay.

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On your "X" map of family policy - what was the reason for not entering the area down toward Hardy? Is there current there too ?

I think just lack of specific knowledge, and over-simplifying to keep us safe as kids. We use to be allowed to snowmobile out Renley Road toward Breezy Point, but then always turned east when we hit the lake to get back home to Walker's Point. The Kettles was always outlawed as dangerous to us. Similarly we weren't allowed to go on the east side of Eilean Gowan or Browning Islands because of the Bracebridge River. In reality I think there is some safe sledding in the area as long as you keep your distance from the river's mouth.

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