I was scouting routes for our 5k run/walk and decided that wherever we meander we have to stop here. Torch Lake is emerging from winter in fine shape, and the Township’s Bill Good Day Park is the perfect place to look at all the blues there are.
If you look closely, you can see the thin edge of the skim of ice that was there yesterday. Through the ice you can look down, down into the lake, all the way to the cobbles on the bottom and a big log left over from the lumbering era. You can watch puffy clouds skate across the surface. You can turn your face to the sun. And on the north side of the boat ramp you can see the old ice piled on the shore. Maybe it’ll be gone by April 10.
OK, so now we have to choose more places within 2.5k of here . . . Back later.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
March 31, 2011
Ah, yes, how many days until the ground is bare again and the waters clear of ice? I’m very happy to have sunshine and trying not to be greedy and impatient for more. Love that first shot, Gerry–almost looks like a boat took off from the camera out across the lake.
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Sadly, we had mostly bare earth and almost entirely ice-free Torch Lake a couple of weeks ago. Then March happened. Who knows what it’ll be like on April 10?
I’m glad you liked that picture! I did, too. You know what those swoopy lines are? The edges of the very thin sheet of ice where it froze and melted and froze again. It was very beautiful out there yesterday.
Sybil
March 31, 2011
The ice is beautiful and the blues amazing.
Sybil
Eastern Passage, NS
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Thanks, Sybil. It really does look that way. I cropped these, but the colors were all in the little camera, and the little camera saw truly.
kiwidutch
March 31, 2011
That first photo is beautiful!!! layer and layers of detail and blues that are not the Blues 🙂 …and for me quite unexpected after all the shots of snow recently.
I hope the sun continues to shine and that April 10th dawns a beautiful walking day no matter what direction you end up taking!
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Thank you! There is nothing like winter sunshine to brighten things up around here. I am spoiled for choice on the 5k route, but Babs says she’ll come along, so it’s going to be fun no matter which way we go.
Carsten
March 31, 2011
I have been looking for yesterdays ice and an older log. Negative! But it made me look at this picture for quite a while. Positive!
I’ll find my 5k route soon.
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Ah. I can see I have been unclear again. The thin sheet of ice and the edges are most clearly visible in the slideshow photos. The big old log is in two of the slideshow photos. Sorry.
Carsten
March 31, 2011
‘n’
You can add this where appropriate.
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Done.
Carsten
April 1, 2011
Oh! You had a spare ‘n’. Now I see what you meant. Thanks.
The first image caught and kept my attention.
Gerry
April 1, 2011
I keep an entire cabinet full of spare letters and dingbats. I keep it stocked with things I have to prune out. I’m glad you were able to see the log and the edges. I was particularly proud of the edges.
Jerry
March 31, 2011
Great photos, Gerry. Reminds me of when my old Lab, Toby, was a pup. He was terrified to walk on the ice on East Bay when it was clear. The kids and I would go out on it to play and he would run along the shore, howling with heartbreak. Poor guy. He never did figure out that he could walk on it.
Gerry
March 31, 2011
Hi, Jerry. I’m pleased that the photos brought back good memories, and astonished that there was ever a lab who was afraid of anything to do with water, whether liquid, frozen, or falling over a cliff.
I have heard many stories of the times that Torch Lake has frozen suddenly and diamond-clear. Everyone was out on it chasing down fish and marveling at being able to see everything down there. That is something I’d like to see one day.
Karma
March 31, 2011
I think I’ll love seeing your photos of your 5k wherever you decide to go – I will look forward to the “Gerry” spin on things. I will try to map out a route for my duo and me as well.
Thanks for the thoughts of spring on a night we are getting more snow!
Gerry
April 1, 2011
You are welcome. As I write this it’s morning and we’re having more sun. I hope you get that, too. It makes all the difference in the world.
katherine
March 31, 2011
Amazing. I’ve only seen it freeze clear one time enough so you could walk on it and it was very hard to relax out there. One of my dogs wouldn’t go out on it either. The strangest though was it’s the only time your shadow isn’t attached to you… you are up on the ice and the shadow is on the bottom of the lake!
Gerry
April 1, 2011
I’d forgotten the part about the shadow! And I have that picture of you out there walking on water. OK, frozen water.
Betty, who is naturally one of the people who told me about the phenomenon, did a whole series of paintings that showed the disconnected shadows. She said she took her chair right out on the ice and sketched and sketched. It sounded like one of the best days imaginable.
Giiid
April 1, 2011
Wow, your slide show! I guess you know which two photos made me say so.
The lake look beautiful and cold. Looking at the big photo feels almost like being there.
Gerry
April 1, 2011
I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. The lake is beautiful and cold and perfectly exhilarating on a sunny day. Now it’s time for cocoa.
Beth Toner
April 1, 2011
So the current debate here in PA: After the big kids move, do we move to Torch Lake Township (or nearby environs) or Daytona Beach? When I see photos like this, the choice is clearly Torch Lake. When I look outside my window here in PA and see it snowing on April Fool’s Day, and realize this is a NORMAL thing for you, the choice is clearly Daytona Beach.
Gerry
April 1, 2011
Go look at some pictures of cockroaches the size of hummingbirds, traffic jams, and summer temperatures that should be against the law. Then balance that against crystal waters, tall pines, and hummingbirds. Oh wait, that was a mosquito. Quick! Throw a snowball at it! Beth? Where are you going? Beth?
Pat
April 1, 2011
Gerry, I can remember the winter days when Burt Bratchi would cut ice for his “ice house” from Elk Lake, at Miller’s Park. Take it to his barn, cover with saw dust and everybody would have crystal clear ice almost all summer. Oh, and I’ve just turned 60 years old! So really not that long ago. 🙂 That was when we could still drink the water out of the lake and not have to put up with the well water they make us drink now. Nasty stuff, if you ask me!
Great pics, as usual. 🙂 Thank you!
Gerry
April 1, 2011
Thanks, Pat—and thank you for the ice house story. You should come out for the 5k walk. We won’t tell anybody if you stop to take a drink from the lake.