Lake Conditions

[tearin' lips]

How are the lake conditions after all the rain that you guys got up there? Hopefully it settled the snow instead of creating more problems with travel.

[Royal Dutchman]

Was an absolute mess early in the week!

Went out through Hanson Bay to Miles Bay on Tuesday. Wasn't bad at that point. Rain had actually settled snow and improved some of the off trail conditions. Slush in the narrow areas but not terrible.

Have no idea how much rain total but I got pretty wet from the dripping ceiling of my old suitcase portable. Was just thinking about asking the guys if they wanted to head in rather than spend the night on the island when we saw fire coming from the island.

Six hours later we finally stopped for a breather. Lost one cabin but came real close to losing about half the camp. The rain and wet snow probably saved us but my 2 buddies were the biggest factor. At least no one got hurt.

The trip out the next day was pure slop. Sleds were slinging roostertails so bad we had to stop and dump the portables every couple of miles. Almost got stuck more times than I care to remember but never actually had to dig out.

If Baudette Bay is any indication, cold temps have firmed things up but ruts are real bad. Have to go back out first of the week with insurance adjuster so will try to post report.

[tearin' lips]

Dutchman, thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about the cabin, at least no one got hurt and things could have been worse. It's never a good situation when that happens.

[superbee]

I was out on the lakes the last couple of days in the Pipestone / Manitou area. The lakes and portages were in excellent shape. Best conditions so far this winter.

[benelli_dude2002]

i was out yesterday with my dad out towards Hay and just west of Morson. Woulda been nice day for a ride but we wanted to get some fishing in. It was much smoother east among the islands and there is enough snow to keep everything lubed and cool. A little rougher going out in the wide open areas but NO slush to be found. Just got be careful when you cross them old froze tracks made by other sleds when they went thru when it was warm out.

[GoodToGo]

Was up in the Crow area over the weekend. Lake conditions were perfect, a couple inches of fresh snow over an inch or two of firm/frozen slush. The track ruts have smoothed out and it was not bumpy at all. Portages were OK, a little bumpy but pretty normal.

Trout fishing was pretty slow.