Ice-out trips are certainly memorable. My brother & I did one into Cache Lake during May the year before this POD was taken. Ice was either blown off to one side of the lakes or gone entirely but we were definitely busting through ice on puddles along the portage trails. Later on during that trip, we nearly got lost in the woods at dark. Hugging my brother for warmth during a sub-freezing night would not have been my idea of fun. We got lucky, however, and gained some valuable respect for wilderness travel during the shoulder seasons.
Several years later during another May trip down the Maligne River, my youngest son rousted me from my hammock tent just after daybreak. It was unusual for him to be up so early so I knew something was screwy. It had been a cold night but the snow squall that was blowing all around me as I exited my hammock, barefoot, was a heckuva morning wake-up call!
ST, I distinctly remember those pics you posted with your trip report for your ice-out adventure. There was a substantial amount of ice still on the water, as I recall. You even had some difficulty getting to shore in some places, right? Seems to me you told of passing some folks who were camped in the BH area who appeared astonished to see anyone on the water at all.
Yeah, that would been a bit much, even for my adventurous tastes back in my heyday, I'm afraid.
The best part of such challenges are all the tales you get to tell, years later, when you are safely removed ( in time) from the scary parts.
Later,
Jimbo