Ice thickness

[XCR-700]

OUTSTANDING picture!

I boat there all summer (most of my life) but have never snowmobiled near or on the lake.

So I'm trying to figure out where the better trails are and what parts of the lake are safe to ride on.

Its still early in the season for me, but I would like to get some miles in around the Winnipesaukee area this season.

I'm pretty cautious about riding on lakes and one as big and as far south as Winnipesaukee is not something I want to break trail on. Are there marked trails across Winnipesaukee?

Thanks for the photo, looks like she had a good time.

George

[Cobalt]

I went out yesterday with a friend for the first time this season on the Moultonboro Bay side of the lake. This area usually freezes first since it is not pounded by the high winds found out on the broads. I live in an area facing the broads that were wide open less than 2 weeks ago. I would not ride across the broads at this time.

We hit the lake at Camp Tecumseh and it was fast and smooth with about 6 inches of powder which was packed down by other machines. You can access 15 N & S from the lake. We took 15N up to the Castle trails and rode half way over the mountain which would take you to Ossipee. The trails on the Moultonboro side were very smooth with a hard base, but there is not much snow with some icy corners particularly on the mountain which under heavy traffic will wear quickly.

I rode the Andover/Rumney area last year for the first time and feel you will find very different riding conditions around the lake. I am sure some will disagree, but the trails are not as wide or fast with heavy traffic taking its toll on the conditions on the weekends. If you go down to Ossipee, you can take the railroad tracks north or south, but again this is a main corridor with exposed rails at times unless there is plenty of snow.

I would pick up a trail map for the area, and park at the Castle lot unless you plan on riding over from Plymouth along the tracks which will take you to Meredith.


Good luck.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by XCR-700

OUTSTANDING picture!

I boat there all summer (most of my life) but have never snowmobiled near or on the lake.

So I'm trying to figure out where the better trails are and what parts of the lake are safe to ride on.

Its still early in the season for me, but I would like to get some miles in around the Winnipesaukee area this season.

I'm pretty cautious about riding on lakes and one as big and as far south as Winnipesaukee is not something I want to break trail on. Are there marked trails across Winnipesaukee?

Thanks for the photo, looks like she had a good time.

George

XCR-700 - The lake should soon be safe to ride on in most areas, and when it is do yourself a favor and take a tour around the different sections of the lake and view the incredible scenery. Most of the typical summer atmospheric haze disappears during the winter because the air is very dry, so the views of the mountains are spectacular.

There are no marked trails on the frozen lake, but you'll see commonly-traveled routes that other snowmobilers have used to get from one area to another. You should stay safe sticking close to the tracks of others who have traveled those areas before you.

I took this photo of Quilt Lady (another Forum regular) several years ago from the ice on the northern side of Rattlesnake, not far from Webbsatwinni's place. The view of the mountains from the ice on a clear, sunny day is hard to beat.




Here's another photo, taken last February somewhere in the Tuftonboro or Moultonboro area. The views that day were outstanding.

[Webbsatwinni]

DRH,

Thanks for sharing the great photos, I was amazed last winter that the view in the summer could get any better, and they did. Can you give an ice update later in the week (given it's not too cold to go outside), we are thinking that if the reports are good, we would come up Sunday and stay the night.

We just know the broads are different and we want to be really careful.

[XCR-700]

Many Thanks to you all, I'm sold!!!

Again, I'm very cautious about riding on southern lakes, but the views can't be beat and so I'm hoping to give it a try this season.

I think for my first couple of trips out I might hit the Bear Brook and Patuckaway, then a trip to Winnipesaukee looks like a must do.

I'd be trailering up from MA, so can anyone recommend a place to park truck and trailer with reasonable access to the lake?

I'll make sure we post before coming up, with any luck we could hook up with some of you folks and maybe enjoy the sights together.

Thanks Again

George

[jeffk]

After this cold snap the ice on the lake should be in very good shape unless we get a strong thaw. It's always good to be cautious and there are some spots on the lake that never freeze because of currents.

One thing to be aware of is the ice heaves that can occur. Some of them can be quite large and dangerous to hit at high speed.

I would suggest the parking lot by Castle in the Clouds. You can get to the Mountain scenery (Mt Shaw) by going up the Castle trail or head to the lake, about a 20 minute ride. Once on the lake at Ambrose Cove in Moultonboro you can head in several different directions. If you go over Moultonboro Bay down to Melvin Village you can pick up trails that will loop you over land back to the Castle parking area. Its a nice loop with lots of opportunities to explore other trails if you want to.

If you are OK with a long day you can probably get mountain and lake riding done in the same day. It's kind of cool to be up in the mountains looking down at the lake and a few hours later riding where you were looking at.

From the lake you can get to the Kona trails which weave through Moultonboro neck wooded areas and is a popular trail.

The snow cover may still be a little light at this point. From what it sounds like we could use another good 8+ inch storm to really get things going.

[Formula260SS]

The lake must have been "cracking" last night, I would expect tonight to be active. 5 Degrees in Southern NH this morning

She's gonna get tight fast this week

[Merrymeeting]

No temps above freezing in 10-day forecast so I expect the ice will be fine from this point on...

[XCR-700]

Anyone have any recommendations for getting to the lake from the south side?

If possible I would prefer to find a place to park the truck/trailer around Weirs/Gilford or possibly Alton/West Alton or even Meredith.

I know the south side of the lake much better than the north side, so if possible I would rather start out on that side.

Thanks to all for you comments.

George

[Ryan]

I believe you can park in the movie theater parking lot in Gilford across from the airport.
From there you can go multiple directions on the trails, or out to Winni.
You are across the street from the gas station, which has maps.

I also believe parking is available at Weirs beach. Not sure about the conditions of the rail.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by XCR-700

Anyone have any recommendations for getting to the lake from the south side?

If possible I would prefer to find a place to park the truck/trailer around Weirs/Gilford or possibly Alton/West Alton or even Meredith.

I know the south side of the lake much better than the north side, so if possible I would rather start out on that side.

Thanks to all for you comments.

George

George - You can access the lake at Alton Bay using the public boat ramp next to Shibley's restaurant. There's limited parking for your truck & trailer across the road next to Pop's Clamshell.

[NHDOLFAN]

I would check Ellacoya State Park. There is more parking and easy access to the lake.

[Mink Islander]

Got on at the Cattle Landing docks this AM around 8:00 -- (a little more than a mile beyond the turn for Shep Brown's Boat basin) on Meredith Neck Road. Ample parking there and easy safe access to the lake on the south side of Bear Island. You can probably get on at Sheps too -- from the water, follow the road past the showroom to where the barges are. Usually can drive right on there. I didn't go by there today, however, since I'm on foot, so don't know the conditions.

The hill at Cattle Landing is a bit steep down to the lake but it has plenty of snow cover right now. 7+ inches of mostly black ice through the narrows. Stay to the North (Bear Island) side to avoid the thin spots near shore due to ice eaters around mainland docks in that area. In front of Mink we have 8+ inches. Ample snow cover.

A few sled tracks between Mark and Bear. Saw a sled over by Mark Island around 11:30.

I think the winter season is officially underway!

Beautiful quiet (but chilly) day.

[NHDOLFAN]

I would like to venture out to rattlesnake from Wolfeboro Bay. If anyone has updates as to theice thickness I would appreciate it. I know the Bay is solid but always weary of the Broads.

[Island-Ho]

You can access the southern side of the lake easily from the Gilford public docks. There are no parking restrictions there this time of year.

[Webbsatwinni]

We are planing on venturing out to Rattlesnake tomorrow. Is it just me or is the lack of bob houses visable on the cams and indication that the ice isn't safe yet?

With this weeks temps, I would think that there wouldn't be an issue. But I thought I would toss it out to the forum and see what others think before we head out.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by Webbsatwinni

We are planing on venturing out to Rattlesnake tomorrow. Is it just me or is the lack of bob houses visable on the cams and indication that the ice isn't safe yet?

With this weeks temps, I would think that there wouldn't be an issue. But I thought I would toss it out to the forum and see what others think before we head out.

I went out with our son today and we found conditions to be pretty poor. The high winds this past week scoured much of the snow off the ice, creating 1) many bare spots of sheer ice, 2) many snow moguls making riding somewhat rough, and 3) a snow surface (what snow remains) that is so hard that the snowmobile tracks couldn't pick up enough to keep the engines cool.

We first went from Minge Cove around the southeast end of Rattlesnake. As we headed northwest past Rattlesnake Guy's & Gal's place (which faces Parker Island), we encountered a huge area of large ice shards sticking up almost horizontally from the surface of the lake. There were thousands of them, many of which stick up over 12". Once we had slightly entered that area we were unable to continue forward and had to turn around and back-track out of there. It appears that the surface of the lake had frozen to a depth of about 2" of clear, solid ice, and then the high winds broke up large sections of it into "shards" and blew them southeast where they piled up and were forced together, causing them to ride over-and-under each other so many of them were forced into near vertical positions where they re-froze. I haven't seen anything quite like that before. I don think a vehicle of any kind could navigate that area at this time. We saw those shards of ice over a fairly large section of the lake in that area.

I don't know if the northwestern end of Rattlesnake has those conditions or not, and it could be a totally different situation there. I can tell you that what little snow remains on the ice is so hardened by the wind and bitterly cold temps. that we couldn't keep our machines cool today and we decided to come back after a relatively short time out there.

However, there is a snowstorm forecast for tonight and tomorrow that could totally change conditions for the better.

All should beware the sharp vertical ice shards near the southeast end of Rattlesnake, however!

[Webbsatwinni]

Thanks DRH, we may rethink.

[DRH]

It's snowing hard here at the lake now. At 9:45 a.m. we have about 3" of fluffy new snow on the ground. Temp. is 10 degs. with no wind.

The poor snowmobiling conditions we encountered on the lake yesterday, specifically the overheating problem due to the hard-packed snow surface, will almost certainly be resolved with this new snow. The NWS is calling for up to 9" total accumulation today in NH.

11:30 A.M. UPDATE: We now have 6" of snow and extremely low visibility. The NWS has increased it's expected snowfall estimate and is now predicting up to 14" for this area.