Algonquin Adventures / 2018 Ice Out Predictions?

**Posted by ATVenture** 4/20/2018 2:17 pm

The North River access point this morning :

Beautiful day today, still well over 2ft of snow on the road, but its going to go fast now.

**Posted by RobW** 4/20/2018 2:34 pm

That looks like open water to me! :-)

Have you got a Yamaha motor in the Arctic Cat?

**Posted by ATVenture** 4/20/2018 2:39 pm

RobW wrote:
That looks like open water to me! :-)

Have you got a Yamaha motor in the Arctic Cat?

The North River has a decent current, I bet its been open for most of the winter. Hard to say though.
Why do you ask about the motor in my snowmobile? It's completely stock, I just picked it up 2 weeks ago fresh out of the crate. I think today is going to be it for the season for me though, I just wanted to get the motor broken in before summarizing.

**Posted by RobW** 4/20/2018 3:22 pm

ATVenture wrote:
Why do you ask about the motor in my snowmobile? It's completely stock, I just picked it up 2 weeks ago fresh out of the crate. I think today is going to be it for the season for me though, I just wanted to get the motor broken in before summarizing.

Ok, I'm really getting off topic for the ice out thread, so my apologies, I'll blame it on the snow on the ground here in Waterloo forcing my head back into winter mode. I'm also starting to wonder if this might finally be the year we get to go ice fishing for the trout opener.

<if you aren't interested in snowmobiles, just skip the rest of this post>

Thanks to my 16 year old I've learned a lot about snowmobiles over the last couple years, including that Arctic Cat had a pretty bad run and had switched to using 3rd party engines including, but not exclusively Yamaha 4-strokes. I could see that it was definitely a newer sled so quite possibly had a Yamaha engine in it but I hadn't spent enough time on Arctic Cats to immediately recognize that it was a brand new sled or the model.

I'd been considering a 4-stroke Skidoo myself but still shopping used and the way the winter was going I ended up going fairly cheap with an '05 550F. That's still the newest sled in the family by 15 years with the others all being Yamaha's going back to a couple of '76 Prestige's that Pete (the 16 year old) has. I looked at a few newer Yamaha's but Pete kept vetoing them on looks. The Arctic Cats have better styling than the current Yamaha's so a recent model Arctic Cat with a Yamaha 4-stroke could be interesting next winter.

**Posted by ATVenture** 4/21/2018 8:26 am

RobW wrote:
ATVenture wrote:
Why do you ask about the motor in my snowmobile? It's completely stock, I just picked it up 2 weeks ago fresh out of the crate. I think today is going to be it for the season for me though, I just wanted to get the motor broken in before summarizing.
Ok, I'm really getting off topic for the ice out thread, so my apologies, I'll blame it on the snow on the ground here in Waterloo forcing my head back into winter mode. I'm also starting to wonder if this might finally be the year we get to go ice fishing for the trout opener.

<if you aren't interested in snowmobiles, just skip the rest of this post>

Thanks to my 16 year old I've learned a lot about snowmobiles over the last couple years, including that Arctic Cat had a pretty bad run and had switched to using 3rd party engines including, but not exclusively Yamaha 4-strokes. I could see that it was definitely a newer sled so quite possibly had a Yamaha engine in it but I hadn't spent enough time on Arctic Cats to immediately recognize that it was a brand new sled or the model.

I'd been considering a 4-stroke Skidoo myself but still shopping used and the way the winter was going I ended up going fairly cheap with an '05 550F. That's still the newest sled in the family by 15 years with the others all being Yamaha's going back to a couple of '76 Prestige's that Pete (the 16 year old) has. I looked at a few newer Yamaha's but Pete kept vetoing them on looks. The Arctic Cats have better styling than the current Yamaha's so a recent model Arctic Cat with a Yamaha 4-stroke could be interesting next winter.

Hey Rob, I'm not overly familiar with the 4 strokes as I'm a 2-stroke guy myself. I'd rather sacrifice the extra reliability for the weight savings and extra performance of a 2-stroke. Arctic Cat used to use Suzuki motors I believe, but recently developed their own 2-stroke motors which they call the "CTec II". They are supposedly the most reliable and efficient 2-stroke motor in the industry, the 600cc model was released in 14' or 15' and the 800cc was released in 17'. No one really knows much about them yet because they have been so bulletproof none have really blown up yet. The 600cc has 135hp and the 800cc has 165hp I believe.

Last edited by ATVenture (4/21/2018 8:29 am)

**Posted by breed85** 4/21/2018 4:43 pm

breed85 wrote:
andrewr0520 wrote:
Yep, happened to me last year. Rain Lake Access was delayed, and I had made 2 or 3 changes prior to the date. They fully refunded me everything, and then I just re-booked at the park for the East Gate access.
FYI.
I just called in to cancel the trip we had booked for May 3-6.
I had previously made a change to the dates and I was told by the representative that I was speaking with that they could NOT refund me the penalty costs for my previous booking changes.
So I am out $30+ dollars for a trip the park wouldn't have let me take in the first place.

I had emailed OntarioParks about this and got the following positive response:

Thank you for send us an email.

In these delayed opening situations we do intend for customers to receive full refunds, including any previous change fees.

We have authorized a refund of the remaining fees owing to you.

Please contact our call centre with your confirmation number and quote this ticket number: Camis-XXXXXX

1-888-668-7275 (open daily; 7:00am - 9:00pm EST)

Ontario Parks

**Posted by nvm** 4/21/2018 7:29 pm

Nice. This aligns with my previous experience, which incidentally was a first attempt at the trip I have booked for May 4. I'm really hoping not to have another cancellation this year, but I feel like booking the same trip may have jinxed it!

**Posted by Was Hardcore** 4/22/2018 6:55 am

Some progress Noticed a big open patch on the webcam where Sunday flows into Fork Lake. Some wind and some rain should start opening some of the lakes with current areas.

**Posted by nvm** 4/22/2018 8:26 am

MODIS shows Simcoe to be about 1/2 open, and a noticeable amount of thawing compared to Friday. We should get lots of clear images this week. Comparing yesterday's image to previous years... it's hard to be optimistic for May 4 still...

**Posted by ATVenture** 4/22/2018 11:27 am

Well I was all geared up to hike in somewhere from the Kiosk access point to have lunch and a fire, I was very disappointed when I got there and couldn't even get anywhere close to the access because its completely snowed in. Even lots of natives parked their trucks/snowmobile trailers on highway 630 and snowmobiled in from there.
I am going for a retry on Tuesday.

Last edited by ATVenture (4/22/2018 11:28 am)

**Posted by Chuck Enwinde** 4/22/2018 11:17 pm

Fished a small lake just outside the park near the west gate on Saturday and found about 20" of ice. By the end of the day it was starting to get a bit mushy on top but there is still a long way to go. Back home Sunday for a round of golf and a sunburn.

**Posted by vanslyke** 4/23/2018 9:34 am

I am very happy to see the warm weather finally here and looks like its sticking around...however, I am still a bit nervous for my May 11th trip. We might just squeak in but a small part of me thinks it may be a May 18th opener for the park. So much ice still on lakes.

**Posted by Methye** 4/24/2018 6:40 pm

April 23rd

[img]https://gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov/image-download?TIME=2018-04-23T00:00:00Z&extent=-80.73152160644531,43.37759399414063,-75.83738708496094,46.85723876953126&epsg=4326&layers=MODIS_Terra_CorrectedReflectance_TrueColor,Coastlines&opacities=1,1&worldfile=false&format=image/jpeg&width=2228&height=1584[/img]

Last edited by Methye (4/24/2018 6:40 pm)

**Posted by sdmoulto** 4/24/2018 11:11 pm

Top- Lake Opeongo April 24, 2018
Bottom - Lake of Two Rivers - April 24, 2018

Lake of Two Rivers could be opening up any day now and quickly, while Opeongo looks like it could be quite different by the weekend. Its going to be close folks!

Sean

**Posted by sdmoulto** 4/24/2018 11:24 pm

Forecast remaining for this week and especially early next week are quite favorable for a rapid break up and ice out, things are gunna get interesting shortly!

**Posted by sdmoulto** 4/24/2018 11:27 pm

I am going to be in the park this coming sunday afternoon, and im pretty sure things are gunna be interesting by then, will post more pics!

Sean

**Posted by ATVenture** 4/25/2018 6:12 am

Well yesterday I was at Kiosk. I did my lunch and a fire outing with my dog. The natives were still snowmobiling across the lake and I walked out about 100 feet. There are a few very small sections where the ice is melting at shore, but for the most part its tight, tight, tight. I was going to bring my auger but I forgot.
Last year when the ice melt was at around the same stage we were ~2.5 weeks(ish) from ice-out.
Once the ice is melted a few feet out around the entire circumference of the lake we are looking at another week.
Also note Kiosk is a lower elevation than most of 60 and usually melts sooner. It was 20 degrees out there yesterday.
I am sure when trout opens on the 28th I will 100% be able to ice fish Kiosk Lake. It might be interesting getting from land onto ice, but the ice will still be WELL over 18 inches thick.

Last edited by ATVenture (4/25/2018 8:32 am)