My estimate is that there was marginal ice last weekend (okay in spots, but not consistently solid), while given the recent cold temperatures there could be more consistent solid ice, but the ice is buried under a healthy layer of snow that makes it not skateable.  (Worse, with snow cover it’s harder to monitor any potential thin spots).  Illinois may have a few lakes and ponds that have been shoveled, but the cool thing about canal ice skating is that you go somewhere rather than just going in circles.  

For the Hennepin, sometimes the ice can be quite good if conditions are favorable, although most often the water may not freeze very solid at the bridge “pipes” or at the locks due to the current of the canal.  The eastern section of the canal (east of Visitor Center) drops in elevation and has more locks, meaning that the western and feeder sections have longer “portage” free sections.  By using skates with a clip-on blade, you can easily “klune” as the Dutch put it, or portage around the places where the ice is too weak.   (For tours, the Dutch lay out carpets and plywood for the skaters to “klune” around sections where the water is thin under bridges, etc.—they don’t necessarily remove their blades or put on scabbards.)   

The I&M only has 15 miles of the canal in open water between Channahon State Park and Gebhard Wood and 5 miles between Utica and LaSalle, according to Illinois DNR.  I did skate a section of it in 2001 and it had been so cold for so long that even the areas around one of the locks appeared to be solid ice.  The ice was rough but my nordic skates powered over the bumpy and rutted ice, but made the skating slow.  

I was hoping to skate Christmas week as I'll be in the region visiting family, but the snow may make it too difficult and given its the hectic holiday season, I might want to just have another cup of coffee not make the trip from a few hours away.  If there is too much snow for skating, perhaps there will at least be enough snow for some pursuits, cross-country skiing or snowmobiling on the towpath so somebody will get to enjoy winter on the canal.  For me though, I'll have to wait for the weather "stars to align" and hope for good ice skating conditions at a later date...keep me posted if you have a weather report as most of the time I'm at home far away. 

 


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