Ice formation Cattle Landing
 

Does any one know if any ice has started form between Cattle Landing and Bear Island?

Ice-in at Cattle Landing
 

Fatlazyless usually offers occasional ice condition reports for that area. I'd be surprised if the ice were safe though before mid January. I define "safe" as 7" of black ice.

Typically, that is one of the later areas to lock in -- particularly due to the aggressive use of ice-eaters by a number of mainland lakefront property owners along that shoreline. Open water can press out several hundred feet from shore through there even in the middle of the winter. I always take a wide arc away from the mainland when starting out from the parking lot. Two years ago in February I had to portage over parts of Bear and Dolly to get around the open water at Cattle Landing on my 2 mile trek out to Mink Island. Now that was an unusually warm winter.... Still, without a doubt one of the less predictable/more potentially dangerous areas of the lake that I cover on foot in the winter.

My first time through I bring along a manual ice auger to test frequently until I'm well past the narrows there. I also have a life jacket on and my ice awls handy. I'd wait until you see ample evidence of snowmobile traffic and ice fishing before heading through there....

Actually I need to take a boat to Bear.
 

I need to take a boat out from Sheps to Bear Island right across from Cattle Landing.

hello-there is no ice to be seen anywhere near the Cattle Landing despite last night's cold snap...

So, like where is the ice....still, no ice, not around Cattle Landing, not around Rock Island, not between south Bear and Mark, not between Mark-Mink-Timber, not between Eagle and Governor's, and not even between Horse and the neck, mainland....just a little shoreline ice, hither and thither but not much. Tonight will probably be the last real cold night as the weather looks like a warming trend starting tomorrow.

On the other sides, both Centre Harbor and Meredith Bay are all locked in ice for miles. Do not know about Pine Island?

Really? How far up the bay does the ice go in Meredith. The Weirs Cam shows all open water infront of the Weirs.

Looking down Meredith Bay from route 25, at the Meredith Village Savings, it's all ice as far as you can see.

At the same time, there's no ice at all from the north side of Governor's Island to south Bear Island. Usually, this time of year, the passages between south Bear and Mark, and Mark to Timber get iced, but there's no ice yet.

The lone, bald eagle is back....you know...it looks just like the IRS eagle....must be the same one....lol!

Has anyone been out by Cattle lately? I'm heading up on Sunday and hoping to hike out to Bear, but I want to make sure that this thaw hasn't softened things up too much.

From what Ive heard just about everywhere is frozen solid with a few slushy spots.

I'm not sure there has been any thaw, last weekend the lake was as tight as it could be. Many trucks on the ice, about 18" in the holes I drilled off Glendale

I drilled a couple holes on Sunday at Fl-3, very close to Cattle Landing and it was 12 1/2" thick. Tonights snow will obviously cover up the ice. Prior to tonight's snow storm, ice cleats or crampons were reommended for walkng, and snowmobling looked terrible due to lack of any snow. ATV's work better what with their big tires. Basically, there were no snowmobiles out on the ice. With tonight's snow, the ice will probably be a lot more snowmobile friendly.

I went out to my place on North Bear last weekend for 3 days. The slush is completely frozen between Browns and Bear so I am sure that it is the same at the south end. Ice skating was great on the east side of the carry. Large area of clear smooth ice. You will need ice grips for your feet or snow shoes that have cleats. Extremely slippery. If the lake gets a few inches of snow you will have no problem. Enjoy.