Those who’ve never spent a winter north of Milwaukee are often gripped by fear at the thought of driving a vehicle on a frozen lake. But where I live, lakes become shortcuts in winter. Trucks plow trails to fishing spots. Networks of roads unfurl where no solid ground exists in summer.Before any of that happens, however, there’s plenty of waiting, testing ice conditions, drilling holes to check ice thickness, driving by boat landings to check activity.While there’s no real safety in numbers when it comes to being among the first to drive out on the ice, it feels that way.
