Mid-winter mornings in Chicago are crisp, cold, and clear, and today was no exception…
The air temperature out at L1 came in at a brisk 18F. The lake reading was 33.4F with perfectly calm conditions. The only glitch was that we had a stubborn and highly mobile ice field congregating around our swim spot. Fortunately, there was enough clear open water by the North Avenue Beach wall.
I went with the fullsuit this time, and that turned out to be a very good idea as I had to do “icebreaker duty” for about 10 meters so we could have a navigable path to the open water. The ice itself was much thicker (and sharper) than it looked from outside the lake, so I took my time clearing a path so as not to slice up my relatively new wetsuit.
Once in the open area, we were able to do laps and get in a decent workout. But the ever shifting ice soon closed in our swim lane, and we decided to call it a day.
Sunrise shots
Water level shots
View from below
Fun in the sun (and ice)!
Hi Steve – do you know where I could get barge traffic data between S and N Manitou islands? Also – what is the best website for checking lake conditions in that part of Michigan? Thanks again
I’m not sure about barge traffic data. But off the top of my head, there are two sites that list water (surface) temperature data as well as wind conditions data for the Leland area. Respectively, they are http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/michigan/m21.html and https://www.windfinder.com/forecast/north-manitou-island.