Wild ice, as I’ve written about, is a very rare find in Colorado. Typically once the lakes freeze the snow starts flying and ruins the ice or the wind pushes the water so it freezes in a way that the ice is rippled and bumpy. To find zamboni smooth ice is rare and even more rare is having easy access to places that don’t require long snowy hikes or cross country skiing to get there.
So we considered ourselves extremely lucky that conditions were favorable for a family skate at Reudi Reservoir in Basalt (about 2 hours from Grand Junction) on January 16th. Two days after our skate the snow moved in to the area and made this area a land mine of crunchy snow fields.
In the summer, Reudi boasts 4 campgrounds with 81 campsites and 2 boat-ramp launches and 997 acres to explore. We parked at the Freeman Mesa picnic site and only had to walk about a hundred yards or so to the frozen waters edge. If you don’t have a 4wd or AWD car or don’t feel comfortable driving down to the parking area in the snow there’s one at the top off the road as well. There was probably room for about 20 or so cars on a Saturday, but I imagine if more people were interested in skating or ice fishing here, it would be even more crowded. The nice thing is with ice, it’s easy to spread out and maintain distance from one another. We stayed relatively close to the shore as half the reservoir was covered with snow on one end and there was open water closer to the dam on the opposite end.
Our dogs weren’t so sure about the ice at first, but my husband picked them up one at a time and brought them out with us and pretty soon they were chasing us and the hockey puck around and having a blast. Our dogs prefer not to wear booties, but I imagine that might help some dogs acclimate to the ice. Being only a year old, they’re still young enough to be able to be acclimated to different textures under their paws.
We also brought my husband’s hockey sticks and puck out with us to make the most of our time on the ice. There was quite a few people out here playing hockey as well and enjoying the smoothness of the ice. FYI, hockey pucks do not glide well over bumpy ice! I personally wear hockey skates that I bought used at Play it Again Sports at my husbands suggestion (and they were cheaper than figure skates), but really any pair will do if you are more of a beginner like myself. We also made sure my daughter was wearing the same helmet she wears skiing in case she fell, which she did quite a few times (I bought her skates used at a kids consignment store). If you don’t feel confident on the ice then I recommend wearing a helmet and waterproof pants so that you aren’t soaking wet by the end of the day. I wore my bibs from Roxy and my Patagonia Women’s Torrent 3L jacket because it’s wind and waterproof and lightweight, which makes it easy to move around on the ice.
After a few hours on the ice, the wind started to pick up so we packed up and headed home. Pro-tip, I brought my down blanket I’ve mentioned here and we used it to put our gear on and off. If you don’t bring a chair or something to sit on, your booty will be mighty cold before you even skate.
I speak more in-depth on ice knowledge and safety in my previous newsletter so if you’re craving a wild ice adventure and haven’t read, “How do you know the ice is safe?” then make sure you follow-up with that piece. As always be extremely careful on wild ice and know that just because the ice is thick in some sections, doesn’t mean it’s frozen to the same thickness throughout. We estimated this ice to be at least 8 inches thick and 4 is the minimum you’d want to skate.
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This ice may be considered done for the season, but this area would make for great paddle boarding and camping in the summer as well so make sure you put this area on your list of Yogi Magee Approved Adventures!