This year the ice went off FAST!! Within the span of two weeks we went from trapsing over a solid two feet of ice, to breaking thro rotten candle ice, to watching large ice floes break off, collide and crumble, and finally to wind-blown waves on a ice-free lake. The ice-off date for Bowron Lake was May 6th, 2012, pretty near two weeks earlier then 2011. Isaac Lake followed suit and cleared around May 15th... according to the paddlers who ended up waiting on Issac for two days before they could continue around the chain. The earliest paddlers, who attempted the chain on May 5th, had to turn around as Isaac was, at that time, still impassable.... without snowshoes.
Now the chain is open of the season. As of the last report received by paddlers...on May 16th, there was still a good three feet of snow on the shady, closed-in portage along Isaac River, but that should be pretty near gone by now. The Park Facility Operators are out on the chain, opening up their cabins, cleaning up the winters debris, cutting firewood and fighting with reluctant boat motors... seems not everything is excited about getting back to work!
