Hi,

I assume Upper Boyscout Lake is frozen by now? The temps looked kind of low recently.

For a trip end of November, if there is no snow, what would be a feasible way of getting water there?
- Chopping pieces out of the lake with an axe/hammer?
- Drilling a hole (ice screw?) through the ice and pumping out with water filter?
- Hoping there would be some snow patches?

Thanks.

You should be able to find a way into the lake one way or another.

Don't use a water filter...
1. Pumping water out if frozen lakes can easily result in water freezing within the filter and clogging it up.
2. The water is safe without a filter. Just leave it at home (or do as I did several years ago and just throw it away).

OK, thanks.

(I didn't want to use the water filter for it's filtering function, but for it's pumping function. But freezing of the pump is a good point.)

sjarelkwint: Maybe I could call in an airstrike to target the frozen surface of the lake?

Just as an additional data point confirming the above- several years ago I spent an maddeningly cold Thanksgiving weekend at Cottonwood Lakes during a year in which it hadn't snowed at all to that point. When we arrived the lake was about 1/3 frozen over, but two days later was completely solid and nearly two inches think. Was still feasible to get into the lake, and that was where I learned pumping water out of a frozen lake results in instant failure. The fun part was listening to the lake freeze at night though. When it freezes that fast the ice makes all kinds of racket as it is forming over.