Baywatch -- Countdown to Opening day

[upthesaukee]

Had a couple of emails re: ice out for opening day at Alton Bay. Seeing as we are only a couple of days away, I thought I would try to do a photo a day from the bridge at the end of the bay. One picture is looking down into the water a little to show how it is breaking up right there, and the other is looking out the bay. The latter will be the view that I will take each day.

[Pepper]

I love the idea of a photo a day from an area where there's no webcam!

Regarding another webcam-free-zone - as I was driving down the boulevard this afternoon - noticed that right across from Paugus Bay Sporting Goods there are three HUGE melted holes in the ice, with beautiful water showing through! Looks like the rain and sun are doing their work just fine.

Perhaps my guess of late April is not a doomed guess after all!

[DRH]

Looking good! I wonder how long it will take the open water to extend out to the bandstand?

[KTO]

Judging by conditions, does anyone have a clue when ice out might occur? Is it coming along just fine? Is it a little late or early? Will it be gone by April 16?

[Island Girl]

...well I hope so, that is my ice-out guess. Then again, I am always wrong.

[upthesaukee]

Here is the picture and report for March 30th. Ice is a little further out, and the large pieces between Downing's and Gillans are moving out with the current very slowly. Unless this warm weather does some wonders, don't look for too much open water on Opening Day. Here's the picture from the UpthesaukeeCam, aka digital camera on the way home from work.

See you tomorrow.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Thanks for the photo updates Upthesaukee.
Hopefully one day there will be a true webcam. Until then, thanks for taking the time to do us this service.
Come on ice out!

[Grady223]

Thanks UTS!

[upthesaukee]

Here's the March 31st '05 edition of Alton Bay ice out as seen from the Rte 11 bridge at the end of the bay.

You can see the ice has moved out a little more off the end of Downing's gas dock.

[Dog's Ear]

This is fabulous, Thanks!

[KTO]

NICE! Looking good! Looking good! This was a really great idea! It's interesting to see how much ice melts daily, and it seems like there are major changes every day too! I mean, just earlier this week, there was ice nearly touching the edge, now it's all water! It's getting nearer that time!

[Island Girl]

Thanks for your daily pictures, upthesaukee. I added this thread to my Ice-out Watch page.

There has really been a difference in these days.

[lucky49m]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Here's the March 31st '05 edition of Alton Bay ice out as seen from the Rte 11 bridge at the end of the bay.

You can see the ice has moved out a little more off the end of Downing's gas dock.

Great job. Thanks a million.
Lucky49m

[Just Sold]

Upthesaukee you are providing a great service to all of us. Many Thanks!

I was at the Bay breifly yesterday and I saw a couple of areas that had open water from winter snow plowing - going up toward the due south side of Sandy Point so there will be more open water in the Bay pretty soon. Just wish it would be sooner especially in Smith Cove - Gilford.

Thanks again for giving everyone a daily dose of the Bay.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Just Sold

Upthesaukee you are providing a great service to all of us. Many Thanks!
{snip}
Thanks again for giving everyone a daily dose of the Bay.

Yup sure is good to see the progress. Just be sure to catch Pam when it gets warm enough for her to be out on the bay ...

[upthesaukee]

Well, Mother Nature is doing her thing in a big way. Despite the quality of the picture (I had it on manual focus and exposure from playing around with it last night), you can see the open water to the bandstand and beyond. Here's the picture...Again, sorry for the poor quality, but I wanted to get this posted as soon as possible

I spoke with Lirpa Sloof, longtime Mirror Lake resident and ardent fisherman. He has been at opening day here in Alton for more than 40 years and can't remember the last time the ice moved out past the band stand so fast. He questioned weather it was the speed of the water coming in from the Merrymeeting, or if it was just Mother Nature doing her thing for the fisherman.

Another local guy, I. W. Harper found these happenings to be staggering to the mind. He feels that with the weather coming in over the weekend, we could see ice out by the 15th.

As far as the fishing is concerned, Will Phulea said things were really slow all day, not hits, and he didn't see any one catch or even hook a fish.

Got to go, again sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but in the words of my friend from Mirror Lake, lirpA slooF, "April Fools"!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Looks like an April fools prank to me Upthesaukee!

[mcdude]

Upthesaukee: What a coincidence! lirpA slooF from ekaL rorriM was telling me the same thing just the other day!!!

Upthesaukee: I just KNEW you would have something up your sleeve for April Fools!!! What a riot! You did not disappoint (Still LMAO) McD

[upthesaukee]

Had my fun...now the real April 1 picture...Water is out quite a ways, with no ice from the bridge to the actual ice surface. All the chunks broke up, melted, got pushed under the ice cap... It will be interesting to see what the weather does over the weekend with the wind and rain. Next week, highs in the 50's all week. Here's the pic:

[IslandSib]

I am enjoying this "Baywatch", for novices of Ice out it has more instant gratifiacation. Although you had me there yesterday ...
Many thanks for pictures and for laugh.

[KTO]

hee hee hee! what did you do, photoshop out the ice with the clone tool? That's pretty clever, hence the poor quality!

[upthesaukee]

Yeah, you caught me...then I used a blur filter to "muddy" everything up.

Here's the April 2nd pics. One from the bridge and one from the pavillion looking straight across the bay at the beach. The side view shows the channel of water is out almost to the northernmost end of the Alton Town Beach, and the northernmost end of the Pavillion. From the end, you can see it is still a narrow channel, not worthy of any boating.

[Kona Bay Girl]

"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!" That would be the sound of my breathing on the lake so it melts faster.

I'm so impatient!

[upthesaukee]

Here we go -- Sunday April 3rd. Gray rainy day, water running fast under the bridge. Looks like a chunk of ice has moved from the beach to the Gillan side of the channel. Here's the shot from the bridge.







And from the side of the Alton Bay Pavillion, the channel is cut out to just about the northern end of Harmony Park, next to the town beach.

[upthesaukee]

Here's a little different perspective: From the extreme northern edge of Harmony Park on the East side looking back toward Gillan Marine and the pavillion. Note the small boat in the water about in the middle of the picture.



And then looking over towards Shipley's at the pier. See the pockets of water...it appears that those are little pockets of open water that will hopefully soon form a large hole in the ice!

[ApS]

Today's strong wind is a-l-m-o-s-t the right direction to push the ice back towards the bridge. (If the wind keeps up, that is).

[upthesaukee]

APS- Here's the picture of the day from Harmony Park. Wind was still pretty strong at 4:15 when I took it. A small chop on the water, and the open water is about 2/3 of the way to band stand from the park. The ice just seems to be disappearing, rather than moving. And that's a good thing. Think tomorrow I'll start from the other side at the Mt Washington dock and think fast ice out!!!

[YOAdrien]

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with these pictures i check everyday religiously. I wish i lived Upthesaukee but maybe someday. Thanks again i can't wait to get out there after some big tasty salmon!!!

[upthesaukee]

It's actually fun and interesting to see the progression of the ice and to be able to chronicle it on a daily basis. If you didn't know, Island Girl has set up a page of the Rattlesnake Cam webiste with all the cam links, a link to this thread, a link to DRH's "West Alton Digi-cam" photos of ice out from the Minge cove area in West Alton and other interesting links. Here's the link if you don't already have it. (thanks I. G., DRH, and Webmaster Don for all you folks do as well)


http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/iceout.htm

Thanks for your kind words, and hurry upthesaukee!

[Mee-n-Mac]

Wow it's sure moving out quick. Off the end of my dock it appeared to be mebbe 4" thick on Sun and there was water (not sure if they were holes of just standing water) at the end of the former ice runway. Betcha it'll be open past Sandy Pt by weeks end.

ps - Mee says to tell you you had her; hook, line and sinker with the 4/1 picture and story. Oh wait, what ... err she now says you did not fool her, yeah, not. Gotta go now, will ..... arrghh ....

[upthesaukee]

Mac-- are those Mee's fingerprints I see around your throat??? Sorry for the "gotcha", Mee!!


Here's the 6th's edition of the Great Alton Bay Ice March, taken from the Park side of the Alton Bay Community Center on the west side. The open water goes to the white house on the far side in the center of the picture, with a few pockets over towards the band stand. The open water in foreground is from the swim dock area over towards the Mt Wash. Dock. Mac, hope you're right and here's the picture:

[pmj]

Upthesaukee...I just gotta ask...do you have any connection to the fine newsworthy journalism that has appeared in Alton's "Main Street" the last 2 years in the month of April???.

I am referring to the recent news of a particular Alton resident throwing out the first pitch at Fenway. Great story. I almost was phuled myself, then I remembered the same family who dealt with terrorism protection in a very ingenious way.

pmj

[upthesaukee]

No, not related, not the person, but I am one with a sense of humor, and drew a great deal of inspiration from past Main Street April Articles. I look forward to that one issue in particular because I know it will be there, I know I will enjoy it, and I laugh like heck when I tell my daughter she has been fooled by the article...once again!

It happens at a wonderful time of the year, because we have pretty much enjoyed as much of winter as we can stand, and look for a refreshing bit of spring, only to realize we just had our chain yanked. Half the fun for me was coming up with names, and still trying to make it believable. Glad you liked it and thanks for the nice comment. I tip my hat to the Main Street crowd, they do a fine job. See you around town.

[pmj]

Upthesaukee,

Yeah, we sure need a sense of humor at this time of year to rid ourselves of the effects of cabin fever..your pictures are great, thanks for posting them!

pmj

[upthesaukee]

Thursday, April 7th. Gray and dreary, at least at 4:15 in the afternoon. Ice is slowly progressing toward the bandstand, now close to being even with the bandstand. Still a good chunk of ice that comes down the west side, but is getting really black, and I think in a day or two it will just disappear. Don't think we'll hit Sandy Point by the weekend. Here's the pic from Alton Bay Community Center on the West Side of the bay"

[Just Sold]

Hey Upthesaukee you should have seen the bay earlier in the day with everyone fishing off docks, Mount pier, canoes and inflatables at 1:00PM. Anywhere there was open water they were there.

[upthesaukee]

Alas Just Sold, some of us do have to work for a living . But driving by the end of the bay every day puts a on my face. Thanks for the assist on the pictures. Progress is being made every day!

April 8th - Water is to the band stand, and ice is clear from Gillan's Downings, with a little path all the way to the Mt.'s dock. Here is a picture from the Mount's Dock:



and here is a link to a panorama (2 picture) showing a wider area and larger photo. (Definition of Spring - Nature's way of saying "let the party begin"!)

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...php?photo=5985

[Just Sold]

Upthesaukee - sorry but I was on my way home from my work in Sandbornton at Winisquam and could not pass up the side trip along the lake.

Again tomorrow I will trek up to the lakes region for my work. I will only be there a few hours at best but will make a side trip to at least Gilford.

I did not want to post my photos until I saw that you had posted yours for the day. I also did not want to post anything that would be a duplicate of what you have been providing all of us here.

Keep up your great work which I have been patiently waiting for every day.

[upthesaukee]

Just Sold -- only kidding...didn't know your work status or retirement status. And by all means, feel free to post whenever you have the opportunity. Our goal is keep those not in the area informed, and your pictures certainly did that. Look forward to seeing you in the future, like at Forum Fest II or sooner.


Thanks again for your pics.

[upthesaukee]

Here's the April 9th photo... water is past the bandstand...boats moving around the bandstand...a few fingers of water extend out to the left of this picture 50-75 yards. Still think Sandy Point is out of the question by the end of the weekend.



And a second view down towards the bridge. must have been 5 or 6 boats out there this afternoon.

[trfour]

Thanks Dave.

Ice out is a ritual here and your pictures have made it much more enjoyable!

[lucky49m]

Thanks again Dave, I'm sure a lot of people count on Guy's like you. Once again great job.
Lucky49m

[upthesaukee]

Sunday - April 10th. First day of golf...Pheasant Ridge in Gilford has 9 holes opened. New vantage point for the photo is the bridge into Alton's back bay, which is about half way out to Sandy Point. where the "Radar Run" was held is almost all open water, which will probably help the rest of the bay break up. The thread of blue water running from right to left in the center of the picture ends at about where the picture was taken. The radar run open water starts closer to this vantage point and runs almost the full quarter mile. can't see it in this picture, tho.

[phoenix]

ice out should be about a week away

[KTO]

That's good to hear, because my ice out guess is a week away! (6 days from today to be exact--next Saturday!)

Not only that, but I'm so glad to see the ice go. What a long winter it seems like it has been!

[upthesaukee]

Same vantage point as yesterday, Alton Bridge at Back Bay on Rte 11. Two picture panorama today...the red arrow shows the location of the red tipped spar in the bay as a reference for just how far out the ice has come. Water in the foreground does not make it out to Sandy Point yet. Give it a few more days. Here's the picture:


and here's a link to a larger version of this picture.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...php?photo=6053

[Steveo]

Went up this weekend to try to "open up", still a little too early. Stayed over until this morning. Last night I saw the coolest thing. Ice was was inplace from Sandy Point to the red spar buoy that Dave pointed out at around 3pm yesterday. I went by again at about 5:30pm and the whole ice flow "broke off" at Sandy Point and was being pushed back down the Bay by the strong wind. It was awesome to see - it was huge. Left early this morning and most of the ice flow was gone down near the bandstand.

[DRH]

I saw what Steveo described about 1/2 hour ago. The huge section of ice that broke off and blew down the Bay from Sandy Point is still at the bandstand, and Sandy Point is open from the two markers south. The beach area at Sandy Point is still iced in.

[upthesaukee]

I was so shocked to see the water up by Sandy point, I didn't look at the area by the band stand. I think it's all open there now, but I honestly didn't look. (good thing no one was in front of me on Rte 11 ) As well described by Steveo (welcome back up to the bay) and DRH, ice is just outside the buoys at Sandy point. Here's the photo from NW of Sandy Point, the white line from the beach to the left is the ice edge.


and the view looking out towards Echo Point. Did I say it was SNOWING!?!? you can just see Echo Point in the center through the snow/mist/fog.

[upthesaukee]

It's 041305. Stopped at Sandy Point and took this shot from right next to the motel. Not much change from yesterday. Looks like it may be a little slow now getting the ice to move. Of course, it is supposed to get windy, so Blow wind Bloooowwwwww!!!


And a link to a panorama from the same spot, looking out at the markers and then left to Echo Point. Need the wind to blow. I think I said that already...but if I didn't, blow darn it!!!!
http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...php?photo=6113

[lucky49m]

Had a very nice day on the Bay today, despite the fact that we were hittless.Thanks again for all the ice-out detail on the Bay. I appreciate very much.
Lucky49m

[upthesaukee]

Lucky49M -- thanks again for the kind comments...Island Girl's idea of an Ice Out page just grew and grew and I'm glad to be a part of it. As you know, the ice is still right around Sandy Point. I did see a small floe or two in the bay between the cove at Sandy Point and Back Bay Bridge. no picture of that. In the picture, looking straight at the white houses in the upper right corner, you can just see some ice that has broken off to the right of the orange buoy. Also the water that was apparent close to route 11 in yesterday's panorama, has moved closer to Sandy Point Beach. As I said yesterday, Blow Wind Blow!!!

[KTO]

Today here in Nashua was really warm in the afternoon. I'm thinking that if it was similar in the Lakes Region, there should have been major melting. As I look at some of the pictures, mostly the one's from Island Girl's page, I notice that ice has made some major progress within the last 24 hours. Pine Cam seemed to be showing some nice melting going on as well, and for the first time, Castle Cam was showing a more "darker" look over the melting lake instead of the white covering of ice. IT'S COMING!

[Grant]

I'll buy a case of beer for the kind photographer who'd go take an ice-out picture of our place and e-mail it to me...I'm going through withdrawl...and it hurts...

[upthesaukee]

Are your taxes done???? Here's a panorama from the curve on rte 11 between Sandy point and Keewaydin park. Note the ice in the upper right. Looks very soft but covers a couple of hundred square yards. Then it's open water to very near Peggy's Cove, from the looks of it. Ice is marching out the bay faster than I expected. Also , looks like there is some open water below the scenic view near Mt Major, but I only saw that from Lakewood Drive (above Sandy Point).


and here's a link to a larger picture.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...php?photo=6131

Unfortunately, Upthesaukee will be Awayfromsaukee for the next few days, but certainly stay tuned to Island Girl's ice out page at http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/

If anyone has any pictures of Alton bay ice, please feel free to post. It will certainly help our friends keep an eye on it. Hopefully, ice will be out when I get back next week.

[nshore]

thanks Upthesaukee for creating this great thread...I enjoy checking your updates every day...

[Orion]

I expected to see a lot of excited banter on this thread as I look at all the web cams. Looks like the whole lake is pretty much navigable, with caution.

[Bizer]

I went from Long Island to Alton today. Not much ice at all. The lake's temperature at Lakeport is 41, so I anticipate ice-out to be soon. From the public beach on Long Island there was about 100 yards of ice to the west.



No ice was visible in Center Harbor, Meredith, Weirs, Sanders Bay, or from the scenic overlook of the broads. The only other ice I saw was from the scenic overlook about a mile south of Littlmark Island. Off in the distance, it looked like Tips Cove (Wolfeboro neck) had ice, too. I was unable to make it to Wolfeboro.

[upthesaukee]

Bizer thanks for the pics. Upthesaukee is back upthesaukee, having spent 3 days south of Las Vegas in temps cooler than here...go figure. It has been a great three weeks or so, and thanks to all who have commented and helped with the pictures in this thread.

thanks to IG for getting the ice out thing really going this year.

thanks to Webmaster Don, whose system has survived over 20,000 hits in a 4 week period on just two threads alone...great job Don, and many thanks for all your support to me in this thread.

Thanks RG for your helpful hints...really made a difference.

Let the summer begin!!!!!!!!!!

[Pepper]

Welcome Home, my friend! We missed you terribly. So sad that you weren't here for the official "Out"!