Re: Driving on frozen lakes
The rule of thumb is you need one foot of ice minimum to drive a motor vehicle on the ice. Here in Minnesota lakes have small cities consisting of shelters for fishing through the ice and those shelters are towed onto the ice with pickups, atv's cars, and snowmobiles. The issue with driving on any frozen body of water is knowing where the springs and currents are as thats where the ice will be unsafe as moving water tends to stay very thin. Also understand that a school of fish can take out a great deal of ice in a very short time so just because it's safe one day, does not mean it's safe the next. You drive with the door propped open and the window down. If you do go through you will have very little time to get out. And should you go through, the vehicle is considered a hazard to navigation and a pollution hazard so the DNR will insist you remove it immediately. Obviously not a simple task because in a matter of hours it can be frozen solidly into the ice sheet. That then requires chain saws. Unless you know the lake and know it well, stay off. I carry a pair of ice picks (a one-inch diameter dowel about a foot long with a sharpened spike in one end). The two picks are tied together with length of nylon cord about three feet long and draped around your neck and down your chest. If you fall through the ice, the picks will provide the grip you need to pull yourself back onto the ice. Always carry a long length of rope and if a buddy is with you, stay separated by 10 - 15 yards so if one goes though, the other can help. If you don't have ice experience, don't learn the hard way -- go with someone who knows what they are doing. Your life depends on it.
