Those of you who live near lakes or ponds may be familiar with the concept of “ice-out”. Ice-out is typically the term used to say when the ice has left a lake for the spring. Our big lake in New Hampshire, Lake Winnipesaukee, traditionally holds an ice-out contest each spring, where people can predict what the date of ice-out would be. They’ve been observing and recording the date for 135 years now. On that lake, ice-out is declared when the cruise ship, the M/S Mount Washington, can navigate its way to each of its 5 big ports. They fly a plane over the lake to see when that might be, and the pilot typically declares the date. It tends to fall between March and May, with the third week of April being the most common (as of this writing, it has not yet been declared this year). Other lakes around the state track the dates and have contests as well.
Here at Barking Dog Organic Farm, we don’t have a body of water to track, but there is something we watch every spring and this year we want to start recording when “Snow Mountain – Out” might be. Last winter we dubbed the mounds of snow that pile up on the north side of our house (mostly from what falls off our metal roof) Snow Mountain. If you’ve been reading regularly you might have seen our photo from March 11th when Snow Mountain was at it’s highest!
We’ll show you where it’s at now, how much or little it’s changed in just a few days, and we’re also going to have a fun contest for our readers, where you can guess what our date of Snow Mountain – Out will be for our first official recording in 2019! We’ll even have a prize for the winner! Now, our official declaration will be when Luke and I can navigate our way through the fence gate seen in the photo to get into our small pen area!
Our weather has been all over the place lately, with up and down temperatures and rain and a warm-up predicted for the next few days. That could be a big factor! However, remember, that is the North side of the house, and typically only gets the early morning sunshine. So study the photos and make your prediction in the comments below!
It’s mostly for fun, but the person who guesses the exact date or closest to the date without going past, will win a large and small bag of our own homemade 100% organic dog treats (your choice of flavors), OR a $15 gift code for our online shop where you can find skin care products, organic catnip, and some household decor. We’re also working on adding some new products to the shop as well as new scents for our skin care line, so hopefully that will all be available before Snow Mountain disappears.
The contest will remain open up until the date Snow Mountain is gone, but please review other comments to pick an original date. If a duplicate date is selected, the winner will have to be the person who guessed it first. Thank you! Good luck, and we hope you’ll join in our fun.
Thank you to our friends at Living, Laughing & Barking in Our Backyard for hosting the Nature Friday hop! Please visit other blogs through the links below to enjoy more of nature’s beauty.
We can’t believe you still have all that snow! We’ll guess May 2.
Hmmm we are gonna say May 2nd!!
xoxo,
Matt & Matilda
April 24th, ever optimistic!
And your optimism paid off!!
I will say April 30th. I can’t believe you still have so much!
My hubby just told me about a place in Vermont that takes bets on when the ice will melt. They put a pallet on the ice attached to a clock that unplugs when the pallet falls in.
That’s a cool way to do it!
The weather was all over the place here too, but without the snow.
I love it that Luke was featured. He’s a good boy.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to Luke and have a great Easter. ♥
He IS a good boy, always willing to help me out with photos! 🙂
Holy cow…that is still one big pile of white stuff! I’m guessing April 27th. Here’s wishing you a ‘Hoppy’ Easter!
Bandit and I are going to guess May 5!
Wow…you must be VERY ready for Spring! We are going to say May 1st…but really hope it is gone before that!
xoxo,
Arty, Jakey & Rosy
You still have quite the mountain of snow! We guess May 9th!
I’ll bet you all will be pretty happy when the snow mountain goes bye-bye for this year!
You’ve got that right!!
I’m going to say May 8th because it’s Kissy’s birthday. She was born on Mothers’ Day 1988. Although I didn’t bring her home until after my own birthday, I always thought that having my own first fur-baby born on Mothers’ Day was quite apropos.
May 3. It depends on what section of the state you’re in. We’re going to have heavy rains all weekend in Massachusetts. So I imagine even the snow piles in the shopping mall parking lots will be gone this weekend.
April 25th, I’ve got a few higher than yours!
we come with da hair dryer of the mama to remove that white stuff fgrom your kingdom Luke ;O) happy good furryday and a happy easter to ya
That was a good idea – maybe we gave up on Mother Nature and ended up doing that! 😉
Ice out is a big thing around here too with all kinds of contests. Our snow is almost completely gone now, just a week after the 9 inches arrived. Spring is finally here with warm weather in the forecast. Have a Hoppy Easter Weekend!
Even though we’ve had the melt, and things are starting to bloom and turn green, it’s still way too chilly here to feel like real spring to me!
That’s a whole lotta cold!