INTRODUCTION:

Most of my Photo of the Week articles showcase various places, events, and/or wildlife amid our region’s beautiful open spaces. In those articles, I try highlighting and advocating for the recreational, natural, historical and cultural aspects of those sites! My methodology in trying to achieve those goals is through sharing photos and writing articles. 

Today’s article is different! Yes, I am using Winter scenarios at Allamuchy Pond, located within the vast Allamuchy Mountain State Park, HOWEVER, today’s message transcends this pond and applies to all ice-covered bodies of water!

While I normally like to emphasize on the positive, today I am emphasizing the word “caution.” 

REMEMBER: our beautiful Open Space lands are not **static.**  They are ever-changing in themselves, as well as to outside influences, such as weather, which can create some pretty quick changes to a site!  My photos today are meant to showcase, emphasize AND, if you will, reinforce the concept that our beautiful Open Space lands may be changed quickly by weather. In this case cold weather! 

I also hope to inform readers that each body of water has its own properties that can influence and even override outside weather influences! CASE IN POINT: Allamuchy Pond does not always totally freeze over in very cold weather. Winds and artesian wells can actually keep parts of the pond from freezing! Look at the Photo of the Week as a good example of this, which I will explain later in the article.

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

There were actually two occurrences that triggered my mind in coming up with this Photo of the Week article. First was the Northeaster and our 10 inches of snow! I was sure, with the very low position of the sun, that we were guaranteed a White Christmas!!  Well, a week later on Christmas Day, I am looking at flooded fields by my house with no snow in sight! Later on Christmas Day, I passed by Allamuchy Pond and noticed a couple of swans. All of a sudden, I was remembering photos I took of Allamuchy Pond half frozen and half open water years ago. I was also thinking along the lines that nature can really change quickly and—if you are not aware of that— YOU MIGHT HAVE A PROBLEM! 

On the ride down to my sister-in-law’s house in Millburn, I was also recollecting and remembering, a day where ice fishermen at Allamuchy Pond were out on the ice with half the pond NOT FROZEN!  I figured I am going to have to do a little research. If I remember right, I did an email message and might have written an article for the Panther, a monthly publication for the residents in Panther Valley, but I think I just found my Photo of the Week article!

AN IMPORTANT OBSERVATION

Almost all children love the snow and ice with an almost reckless abandon: “let’s go have fun!”  Unfortunately, an ice covered lake, pond, or even frozen river tends to make the visitor forget that they are actually on water, NOT LAND! Many adults are also lulled into this mindset, especially if there is a popular activity luring them out onto the ice!

There are two dangerous misconceptions that go hand in hand, making the above mentioned scenarios unrecognizably dangerous! First, the perception that a long cold spell means everything will be frozen! Second, that ice forms evenly across water because it is in the same area and exposed to the same temperature and elements. Now, throw in that other false sense of confidence: “I am protected from the cold with my clothing and my boots.” Yes, protected if you remain dry, but if you fall in: 1) there is no protection from the cold and 2) the clothing weighs you down so you cannot float or be mobile!

THE PHOTOS

It is Feb. 3, 2007, I am driving north on CR-517 alongside Allamuchy Pond.  It has been very cold for quite a spell. Looking down onto the pond, I see a tent and several people standing on the ice. And then I notice OPEN WATER, all the way across the rest of the pond! What is wrong with this picture?!

I park and make my way down to the pond’s shoreline and eventually get to talk with one of the fishermen who is on the shoreline. He reassures me that they’ve taken many precautions to ensure their safety. They have been ice-fishing for years and every time they decide to go on the ice, they “drill out.”  In other words, they do multiple tests boring into the ice to see how thick it is!

To illustrate my point about ice NOT forming and melting equally: He said that where their tent stood, there was a solid 10 inches of ice, even with open water nearby. What made the different parts of the pond act so differently, I asked. (Keep in mind that in 2007 I had only been director of Open Space for about three years and was not that familiar with Allamuchy Pond in winter ice.) They explained that wind and artesian wells in the pond can affect how ice forms!

Over the years, I have observed Allamuchy Pond during winter freezes and every year can be different! This applies to any body of water; freezing depends on various factors, or combinations of factors. The photos throughout the article show the pond during different times and under different conditions.

I purposefully added the Allamuchy Township Volunteer Fire Department in a joint exercise with Green Township’s Emergency Crews to emphasize the many measures taken during this session in protecting their personnel! (See more photos of this here)

I know from personal experience, as a member of the New Jersey State Police Underwater Recovery Unit, that you take ice diving seriously! 

Maybe the next time you are contemplating going out on the ice, you will think about this article and photos. Remember all the equipment and personnel at that training session! They didn’t just walk out on the ice!  And remember the veteran fishermen, who “always drill ourselves out and check the ice’s depth!”  They didn’t just walk out on the ice, either!! 

Ice safety is incredibly important, and you never know what factors have affected that pond, lake or river. So, don’t you become a tragic and unnecessary statistic!

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Charlie Fineran is Allamuchy’s Director of Open Space, Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission Chairman and Allamuchy Historical Society President.