Cars & Trucks Driving out on Lake Irving in Bemidji!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[swedishpimple]

At 1:00 p.m. today I saw the first cars and trucks out on Lake Irving in Bemidji. I was a little surprised due to the 18" of snow we have and all of the slush on Lake Bemidji (attached to Lake Irving but much bigger and deeper)

[big drift]

Hey SW,

Are they just driving out from the access or all the way down the south end?

No freaking way for me there is a good current running thru there.

[pathogen]

I hope somebody scouted that thoroughly before driving out, these conditions are notorious for causing inconsistent thickness in ice. I think that's pretty foolhardy to be driving around already, especially with that much insulating snow on the ice.

[swedishpimple]

They are out infront of the access.

[zamboni]

PFFFFT- thats nothing- seen a pickup today on the lake in Lake Crystal, MN- 10 minutes SOUTH of Mankato. He was surrounded by 3 fairly large permanents

[ilovehardwater]

wow thats just crazy the ice cannot be that thick there yet can it...I talked to a friend who was just on Loon lake just East of Lake Crystal last Saturday and he said he was on 4 inches of ice, I was thinking that maybe by next week people would be driving but not already today...

[zamboni]

Wouldn't catch me doing it

[Rippinlip]

I just got back from the lake in the Faribo area and I only had about 4" of ice under about 8" of snow, had to sit with my feet in a couple of inches of water after drilling holes.

[BobT]

One of the things that spooks me even more than driving on questionable ice is that it seems that some just don't have any commen sense at all. I remember one time I had driven out on about 8" of ice. Not typical of me as these days I won't go out on anything less than a foot. Anyway, it wouldn't have been so bad except someone else thought that since it was okay for me they too would drive out. That too would have been okay except that they parked less than 30 feet from me! I was set up in my portable when all of a sudden the water was pushing up the hole and eventually settled to about 2" deep. needless to say, I didn't stick around to see how deep it would get.

Remember to give each other some room. One vehicle might weigh 3,000 - 4,000 lbs. Two of them weigh 6,000 - 8,000 lbs.

Bob