Walking on Water

One of the great joys of living in New England in winter is the freedom to walk on water courtesy of the ice. With thick ice, the ponds and lakes might as well be land and suddenly you can venture to places that are only accessible by boat the rest of the year.

In the case of Duck Pond, getting to the island probably wouldn't be terribly worthwhile in summer as the pond isn't all that large and would require hauling your boat almost as far on land as the paddle is to the island.

But with a solid layer of ice, Beyla and I set off across the water to visit new places. She wasn't keen on the idea at first, as she has some issues with smooth surfaces, but with a bit of encouragement she joined me. Once she got on the snow covered ice she was happily trotting along checking out this new place. Off we went along the west shore to the far end of the pond. Apart from a few paw prints near our starting point, and the tracks of an intrepid cross-country skier, we appeared to be the only ones who have braved the crossing since the last snowfall.

Our journey took us to a cove near the far end and past a dog who was quite interested in our arrival. No doubt the change of scene and the new visitors it brings must be very exciting. From there it was on to the island in the middle. After much sniffing around and some pawing at the snow (somebody else had come from across the cove with their dog at some point. we then continued to the end of the pond, which proved to actually be longer than originally thought. It seems beyond what I thought was the end, there was actually more pond! :) After rounding the peninsula that we though was the end previously, we crossed back over to land and followed the more traditional trail a bit before coming back to the ice on the east side of the pond.

It's a great thing to be able to travel in such a way. It almost feels as if you're getting away with something you're not supposed to be doing. Like you know you shouldn't be there, yet there you are and there's nobody stopping you. Now I want to head up to Maine and explore Indian Lake thusly. Here's hoping the new roof is on soon. :)