As we all should know, scouting unknown ice with snow on it is very risky. The only way to tell if there are holes or cracks is to look for the wet snow. But if there’s a drain hole with a half inch of ice on it you won’t see it.
We found eight inches of ice at the Vannah Road launch, and based on what we know of that part of the lake we felt confident heading out. If we had found only four inches we might have decided not to go with boats, but walk or skate.