1/1/25 – The final days of 2024 we ate, drank, and were merry. We also took multiple walks/shuffles (it’s slippery out there!) on Sawbill Lake with auger in tow. We found varying qualities and thicknesses of ice, but most often there was 9-10 inches of ice, with 5+ inches of it being clear. Occasionally we would auger into a water pocket between the cloudy frozen slush and clear ice.

Also on the docket was a brief jaunt over to Alton where a test hole revealed 9 inches of mostly clear ice. It was a little breezy so we only drilled one hole straight out from the portage and then quickly went back the way we came. My guess is that Alton froze over after Sawbill, so it potentially was less affected by the windy, snowy, slushy, mess that reeked havoc on Sawbill’s ice. Hard to say for sure though. -Jessica