Ice, ice baby! (Part 2)

After picking my way north along the ice pack it was time to head back.

The roots of some of the ice extended well below the surface or ...

... stuck out like a sore thumb.

There were unusual ice carvings.

On my way north there weren't many openings along the edge of the pack but on my return it seemed to have loosened up a bit and I was able to find more open water and passages into the pack.  I was doing a lot of paddling but didn't seem to make much progress south.  I spotted a large pan and ran the kayak up onto it to stretch my legs.

I wasn't paddling but I was moving as I found out from my GPS track ...

... that showed I floated north on the pan some 160 meters.

Afloat a kilometer from shore made for a sweet shot.  I left a yellow stain *lol* before ...

... setting out again.  It was a spectacular day and I made a conscious decision to take my time and drink it all in.  Days like I was having don't come long everyday,  I mean, the calm wind, sunshine with a few clouds and white ice to match the clouds.

My watch beeped the passage of another hour which brought me back to reality.  The day was getting on so I got going.  As I did I noticed that the ice pack had drifted since I left and I was in danger of getting cut off from the take out.  All I could do was follow the front and as I did it became apparent my only possible escape would be ...

... at the shoreline.  But, it was tight.  Just ahead there was an opening only wide enough to get the kayak through and then only fleeting as the pans crunched together drifting open and then closing.  Timing myself I got through and into open water back into the cove.

One last feature got my attention.  I called it the "Ice Sphinx".

That was one totally awesome day and I'd be hard pressed to pick one that I've enjoyed more.  It wasn't just the relaxed pace and the conditions but also the joy of being on the water after a month where I could not paddle.  Happiness is indeed an inside job.

Here are the breadcrumbs for the day.  The blue line was my paddle north.  A distance of 4 kms along the shore turned out to be 6.1 and the yellow return was 8.6 proving the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line.  A paddle that would normally take 80 minutes turned out to be 3.5 hours.