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dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 04:54 PM,

Fortune Pond is an old iron mine of the quarry type that has been allowed to fill in by seepage. Like many of these quarries, the water quality is fantastic. We had between 60 and 80 feet of visibility. It was like being in the tropics.

There was one diference from the tropics, when we got to the dive site, it was snowing and the wind was blowing at 20 MPH. The temperature was 35 deg F, the wind chill was in the low 20's. With all of the wind, the snow was going horizontal and pelting us like a sandstorm. We set ourselves up to get ready like we do for ice diving. I even had my blaze orange hunting gear on.

After suiting up in the wind and the wet, we crawled into the water. The balmy 57 deg F water at the surface felt like someone had turned the heater on, balmy, much nicer than ice diving.

The visibility was fantastic. at least 60 feet, more like 80 feet. This is a quarry so there are a lot of rocks and some old equipment.

Here I have George giving some idea of the visibility.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 04:57 PM,

Here is an exaple of the type of rock structure that you see.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 04:58 PM,

Here is where they keep track of temperature. Trust me it is cold.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:00 PM,

I need a sign like this for ice diving.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:07 PM,

Did not see a lot of fish but had a great time with a trout that swam with us for 15 minutes. I think he wanted to be fed. Tried to get some pictures of the trout, but he was fast.

Here he is playing with George.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:10 PM,

I think he is going to take a run at me.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:15 PM,

We went deep, the thermocline was at about 30 feet and the water temperature dropped to 42 deg F shortly after that. There was a very cloudy layer at 130 feet that we did not penetrate. Better to enjoy the swim.

We had a nice tour, working our way to shallower depths and eventually back to our take out. After an hour of diving, we were a little cold. We froze when we got out of the water.

Jason joined George and I for the second dive of the day. The weather really became wicked with the wind and the snow. I was chilled when I entered the water. The warm 57 deg F surface water felt great.

Being in the halloween mood, we noticed in the distants a reminder of how dangerous it can be in a deep lake.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:16 PM,

A closer look.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:18 PM,

Took a run down to the layer at 130 feet and did a little penetration but it was not going to hbe easy, so we started working our way up. Went along the wall and it was neat. Here is an example of the wall.

dfreeman · 10-17-2004, 05:21 PM,

I was surprised to see weeds at 65 feet. This is deep for weeds in the fresh water north. However, I rolled over and could see the waves on the surface. Given that there was no sun out, this gives an idea of the visibility.

We ran into some crayish doing something that could be nasty. And a lot of rock. Great dive just to cruise along.

We were all cold when we ended the dive, but it was great. Can not wait for the next dive in this lake.

What are those crayfish up too?

Doug