On Sunday, the weather was fine but very brisk, even by Maine standards. There was a wind—not a gentle one—and with the windchill it felt even colder, below zero.
Nevertheless, faithful blogging friend that I am, I headed to Marancook Lake in hopes of seeing some ice fishing shacks to photograph. I know that blogging friends who live in warmer climates are fascinated by the notion of ice fishing, which is a yearly event in Maine.
But Sunday’s cold snap aside, this winter has been warmer than average, and the lakes have been slow to freeze. Last week when I went to Lake Marancook, there were no ice fishing shacks. Taken from our local paper, here are the guidelines that prudent folks follow: “The state recommends keeping off any ice that is not at least 4 inches thick. It’s recommended that snowmobiles need at least 5 to 6 inches, and cars and small trucks need 8 to 12.”
Had the week been cold enough for the ice to freeze 4 inches thick? Would there be ice fishing shacks?
Just barely. I found two shacks rather than the lively village that is usually on the lake this time of year. In the photo below, you can just barely see them in the distance.
Here’s a closer view.
And closer still.
Those who have taken pictures in cold weather know that it is really hard to do so wearing gloves. (Perhaps there are special gloves for cold-weather photographers?) Therefore with bare stinging hands, I took these pictures, and I did not dawdle to admire the views. Snap, snap, snap, and I was back in the relative warmth of the car.
I drove home the long way around, going by the Narrows Ponds, where there were more ice fishing shacks. But there were too many cars in the small off-road parking area, and if the weather allows, I will take a walk sometime this week to see if I can get some more pictures of ice shacks.
Here’s a final picture from Sunday’s Maranacook Lake series. Just in case in anyone needs a reminder.
Stay warm all you hardy souls who live in the frozen north!
Notes From the Hinterland 
Ice fishing shacks?? Oh my, it’s a brand new world up there, isn’t it, Laurie?! I remember as a child ice skating on one of our local lakes — and seeing frozen fish beneath the ice and thinking how cool that was! I’m not sure I’d want to erect a tent on the ice and stay there awhile though!
Welcome to the land of North of North. 😉
😉
Looking at your thermometer I had to smile for we endured a 40 degree Celsius day on Saturday. Noting could be further from your icy conditions and a swim in our pool to cool down was a necessity!
Wow, that’s hot. Yes, a swim in the pool was a necessity.
It’s definitely cold but the pictures are beautiful!
Thanks, Meg!
Oh my goodness it looks cold out there, thanks for venturing out. When Paul and I were in New York, a waiter at our hotel told us his Dad loved ice fishing, and had an ice fishing shack with a TV. We thought he MUST be kidding!
Just looking at your temperature gauge, yesterday here in Canberra it was 38 degrees (C) about 100 degrees (F)…..what contrast!
It was achingly cold. An amazing difference in temperature between where we live. We humans are certainly adaptable.
Great minds think alike. 🙂 We had the exact same weather, and it’s still cold today, but the sun has been a gift. Yesterday, we drove to two local spots to check for ice fishing shacks. We saw one ice fisherman out on the ice at one spot and no one at the other. Glad you included the inches of ice needed for various activities because that’s always interesting to folks not familiar with it. Stay warm. I’m sitting on the porch right now with the sun in my face. Nice. 🙂
They do, indeed! That sunny porch sounds wonderful.
It looks beautiful with the lake frozen over Laurie and it seems we’re having similar weather. I love these crisp blue sky Winter days 💙
So do I! That wide open blue of winter is fabulous.
That’s cold! I remember visiting up around Bar Harbor for a few days one winter, many years ago. It wasn’t fun getting out of the car.
Very cold indeed!
I loved the warning notice!
Pretty funny to see it in the winter.
Great post, Laurie. So interesting to see the differences in our climates. It’s been cold here by our standards (32 degrees for a high). We’ve had worse, for sure. But this is enough to start us complaining.
Well, we are eight or so hours north of you. Even an hour north in Maine makes a big difference.
True!
It has been a bit brisk lately! We saw two fishing shacks today while we were passing through Brattleboro VT – hardy souls. I couldn’t sit in the cold, I need to keep moving!
Hardy is right!
I sympathise with your cold fingers. Mine get cold enough and we are not nearly as cold as you.
A real problem in the cold.
Greetings frozen north! … and I know you love that. Have you ever done ice fishing?
I do love that. No, I have never been ice fishing. Not really my kind of thing. But I do enjoy seeing the ice fishing shacks.
All sounds good!
Hi, Laurie – Awesome pictures! I agree about the difficulty of taking cold-weather pictures and trying to work around mitts and gloves. I recently just learned that my S10+ Samsung phone has a (free) voice-activated feature where I simply say “cheese” and my phone snaps a pic. Seriously, I wish that I had known this long before (I’ve had this same phone for almost 2 years now). It seriously would have helped in cold weather, as well as with selfies! 😀
Many thanks! And that is one awesome feature on your phone.
That is genius.
I have often enjoyed seeing the colorful ice shanties but I have never tried to take pictures of them. I am unsure of being out on the ice. Maybe if I ever get a longer lens and can stay on the shore…I do take pictures with my gloves, they are just ‘liner’ gloves from LLBean, not heavy so workable. Wouldn’t be warm enough in very cold weather though.
I was on the shore. The telephoto on my wee camera does a pretty good job.
Looks beautifully frigid to me.
It surely was!
Love your last pic, Laurie! The weather just NE of you has had even less snow and less true cold. I’ve haven’t seen a winter this mild since we moved here in 1970. An ice shack went through the ice on a lake near hear last week. Just not thick enough. Astounding.
Thanks, Jane! Astounding is right.
Oh it reminds me of winters in the Nordic countries! Could you wear fingerless mittens for photo taking?
Great idea! My husband has a pair, and I will them the next time I go out, and it’s really cold.
You need a pair of fingerless gloves, either with or without a mitten flap. I used rock climbing gloves from Patagonia for years at work. Then, they discontinued the ones I liked, and I haven’t replaced them yet. Since the advent of touch screens, there are a lot more selections around than there used to be.
Have you ever heard Garrison Keillor’s story about the fishing shacks on Lake Wobegon? Here it is, compliments of YouTube!
I will borrow my husband’s “half-gloves” next time the weather is bitter. (A mere 30 degrees does not faze me.) I had never heard Garrison Keillor’s story. Fun! Thanks for sharing the link.
And I thought it was cold here! You brave soul taking photos in that temperature
It was pretty darned cold, but I was glad to get the pictures.
The RI family went to the ocean on Sunday, where even the salt water had started to freeze! You can imagine how cold that was. The little ones like to whack ice with a stick.
I think the little ones know how to have fun.
The high here yesterday was 75F, perfectly clear and sunny with a slight breeze. Not too shabby. The low this morning was 33F. THIS is why people live in the Texas Hill Country! (I grew up in Northern Ohio; I DO know cold!)
Lovely, lovely weather! But this Mainer is fond of winter, believe it or not.
Love the Lifeguard sign shot. I’ve always thought of ice fishing as being the exciting end of the sport, not only might you catch a fish but you have the additional charms of possibly freezing to death or drowning. For some reason my fishing daydreams centre on Marlin fishing off Florida…
Yes, yes! 😉
🙂
Would fingerless gloves be any use?
Next time, I will borrow my husband’s and see if they help.
🙂
Love the photos.
Rain here today.
I wear mittens with the tips of my fingers free of material for taking photos in the cold – I sometimes wear other Bernie Sanders mittens over these in really cold weather – but we don’t get it as cold as you do. 🙂
Next time, I will borrow my husband’s half-gloves. What the heck do you call them?
We call them fingerless mittens – but they are not finger-less, they are half-fingered – does that make sense?
Sure does! Half-fingered gloves. There, between the two of us we figured it out.
🙂
Loved the wonderful photos, especially the last shot! It looks and feels like winter this week and the lakes finally have been busy over the last week with ice fishing and hockey.🙂
Yay!
Great shots and impressive that you braved the cold. I kept wondering, who measures the thickness of ice…and how? 🙂
Thanks, Jane. As for who measures the ice…individuals who want to fish, skate, and be on the ice do. There is no state department of measuring ice. 😉 Ice is measured by making a hole in the ice with an auger or a chisel and then by using a yard stick or some other measuring device.
Bless your little frozen fingers. You are so good to us 😉
It didn’t my fingers long to recover, and I felt it was worth the pain to get the pictures. 😉
I remember watching a film where three friends used to go off ice fishing in shacks. I was fascinated by the way they made a hole in the ice and then dangled their line through it.
I love the snow.
I like winter, too, and snow.
Wonderful images. No ice fishing here.
Due to wind chill factor, our temperature for today is feels like -16 C 😭 and I am not sure if I will go out. Yesterday it was around -9 and was extremely cold.
Thanks, Rupali!
How do people know how thick the ice is? That’s one calculation you wouldn’t want to get wrong, especially if you were planning to drive on it.
And I meant to say I sympathise about having to take the gloves off to take pictures. My iPhone got so cold a few weeks ago that it pretended its battery was flat and stopped working.
To check ice thickness holes are drilled with either an auger or a chisel then measured with a yard stick or some other measuring device.
It must be very stable then not to be broken by being drilled.
It had better be if you are going to walk on it. 😉
Great to see the shacks. I’ve read of them in novels and memoirs. Thanks!
We’ll see if we can get some more pictures. It’s been very cold in Maine, and I bet there are more fishing shacks on the lake.