Running on a frozen lake is a stupid idea!
Running on a frozen lake is a stupid idea! For anyone reading this, I would not advise doing it, as there is simply too much risk of falling through the ice. With that being said, this was one of the most exhilarating, peaceful, and breath-taking runs that I have ever been on.
This was probably my fifth day running on Eagle Creek in December of 2017. We had been through a brutal start to the colder months of the year in Indiana. The temperature for my runs out at the park were averaging in the single digits. On this particular run, the high temperature was -3 degrees, and the low temperature was -5 degrees. (And that's in Fahrenheit!)
On the first day that I realized that the lake was frozen, I decided I wanted to go run on it. As a precaution that day, I ran with a long branch that I could use if I broke through the ice. I also stayed close to shore, never venturing more than ten feet from land. At this distance, I knew that the lake was at maximum depth about three feet deep.
As the days went on, I slowly went further and further out onto the lake. Some days there was snow on top of the ice, but others, I could see clear through to the bottom of the lake. The ability to see the bottom through a solid layer of ice gave me the confidence to explore further into the lake.
I slowly went further and further out
The darkness of the woods and the brightness of the snow...
When I took this photo, it had snowed the night before. I had just run out to an island that's on the north side of thee lake, and I turned around to see my footprints. The only other evidence of life out on the water were the tracks that a rabbit had made as it hopped across the lake.
With the sun low on the horizon, there was extreme contrast. The darkness of the woods and the brightness of the snow covered lake dramatized the photo. In the right side of the image, you can see where I felt safe running the day before. There were three more sets of tracks closer to the shore from when I was building my confidence.
This photo was almost naturally black and white, which is why I present it to you in that form. Imagine the silence that I felt out on the lake that day. No one else was around. There was no wind. Only the occasional bird flew by. It was a wholly surreal experience in nature. Look at this photo, and see if you can feel the cold.
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