The not to bright award

[Iambjm]

Sometimes I amaze myself with my stupidity!!! I haven't been able to get out on my lake since December, so today I decided I would take the 4 wheeler and give it a go. After all I have been out on other lakes. So I head down the 400 some feet of path to the lake, and it is pretty smooth going, seems like the snow has really hardened up. Get to the shoreline and look out and it seems deep, but the path was nice and crusty and after all I do have chains. Head out onto the lake, the minute I am on the ice I realize that I have sunk into about 2 feet of soft snow. The 4 wheeler bogs down and I and stuck. I try to back out and no go, I get off the wheeler to do some shoveling and realize I am actually in snow up to my thighs. I shovel for about a half hour and get back onto the wheeler to back up, tires spin and the left rear tire chewed right through the ice and the back end sinks down into mud. I am now sunk down about 6 inches below the surface of the ice. The chains must have chewed up the ice (I am right off the shoreline) and down the tire went. I have spent around 4 hours working on getting it out, and it is still sitting there and will probably freeze in overnight. So my Valentines day has turned into a nightmare. I probably burned up around 10000 calories shoveling and walking up to the house and back down again. By the last trip up to the house pulling my sled with all my gear in it I was reading for the ER. I did take some pictures of the mess with my new phone but can't figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer.

[hopeforfish]

Holy Carp Barb, and I thought I was stupid today. I went to an ice fishing contest. Parked my car on the ice took my tennies off so I could put on my boots. Decided I wanted to pack somewere else so I moved the car twice. Found out after the contest that I was one shoe short. Had to sit in my car until all the other cars had moved to find my missing shoe. Yes, I did find it, but it is a little dirty because it was run over atleast once.

Hope

[UdeLakeTom]

Yike!!!!

[yukon]

Happy valentines day lamby. Yes it will probobly freeze in. When you go down to get it out tomarrow bring a bucket of hot water down from the house and a bottle jack from the pickup. Pour the hot water in the hole and jack up rear end. Once it is up and out of the hole push it forward off the jack and you will be out. Then all you have to do is get it back home. good luck

[reelemin]

I second the holy c rap Barb - thats a fine mess you've gotten yourself into. -

Wish I could help ya, but that is a long a?? drive. Good luck girl.

[Lisa Almquist]

OMG! Barb, hopefully someone can yank that out!

[deadeye]

Thats a good one! I wish I were closer to ya, I would pull ya out. Post it on the GR page and I bet someone would yank it out for ya. Better take it easy and have a good Valentines night!

[Neighbor_guy]

I smashed my good thumb with a 4lb sledge hammer last night, by accident, of coarse. Now I have a healing gash and a pully burn on my right thumb, and an extreamly painfull smashed thumb, black nail and all, on my left. So lets just say the last 10 days have been tough on the hands.

Does that put me in the running for "The not to bright award"?

Hopefully you will be able to regroup tonight and get it out in the morning. Do you have access to a jack and a comealong? Or mabe some stapping youth to lift it out for you? I forget, does your wheeler have a winch? Mabe you can go out the front?

[Iambjm]

I tried my winch off to the side, no go. I borrowed a come along from a neighbor, but had difficulty using it with only a rope. He is my special friend and he called tonight after he got home from taking his wife out and said he will come over in the morning with a chain. I am sure he can get it out for me, but I really do feel like I should get the "stupid of the year award" for this one. I would have gone off the front with the old pipe down an ice hole trick, except the snow is about waist deep for about 50 feet in front of the wheeler. I forgot that the spot I went out drops down about 18 inches off the shore, so when I came to the shore I figured it was around the same depth as what I had just gone through. Big shock!!!

[Neighbor_guy]

YIKES!!

At least you have someone on the way to give you a hand.

[Iambjm]

My good friend Ken came over this morning and with some chopping with a spud bar and some cranking with a comealong my little baby popped out of the ice and back on to good old terra firma. I then decided to go over to my favorite lake and cannot believe the difference. Hardly any snow left and the slush is frozen solid now. My shoreline is on the south side of the lake, and the snow has been blowing down there all winter so it is really deep.

[fish-n-fool]

by the way--- I think the Jack was to drink...

[glenn57]

barb, quite the adventure. my mom was up to the cabin this past weekend also and ran into the same senerio, lotz of snow and water on the shoreline. i would have to believe if you could get out further it would be fine. after she told me this i made calls up there and thats what they said out in the lake further its good. you need to get a path/trail made out and let it harden up then you would be good to go.

[Iambjm]

barb, quite the adventure. my mom was up to the cabin this past weekend also and ran into the same senerio, lotz of snow and water on the shoreline. i would have to believe if you could get out further it would be fine. after she told me this i made calls up there and thats what they said out in the lake further its good. you need to get a path/trail made out and let it harden up then you would be good to go.

Right now the first 50 feet out from our shoreline the snow is thigh deep, I tried to make my way out past it to see how bad it is but these tired old legs couldn't get through the snow. Unless we get some major melting I will go to other lakes. If it were earlier in the year I would take the snowblower out there and get me a path. Next year I am going to plow it every time it snows.

[glenn57]

you need to do what ya gotta do. we usually have our spot we get on the lake pretty packed down also, but when it gets warm and starts to melt you sink in. its always kind of a pain to go to different lakes when you got one right out the front door. nice to explore and go to different lakes but when ya CANT go on the one your on makes it a bummer. good luck.

[Sandmannd]

It happens Barb, I wouldn't think it's stupid, just dumb luck.

[glenn57]

well said. dumb luck might come my wat fri morning. oh well better than a good day at work.

[Iambjm]

I had to chuckle, a neighbor of mine said I could go down to the lake from her place. She's on a hill that is probably 300 feet long and about a 45 degree angle. I told her I may not be to bright sometimes but I surely ain't crazy!!!