21 February 2026

Yesterday it was windy when I took a long walk in Schenley Park. By the end of the walk I’d peeled off my coat, so warm it felt like spring. Nothing was greening up yet, but it was the perfect day for melting old patches of ice and snow.

All the streams were running fast with melt water and Panther Hollow Lake was overflowing its western, downstream edge (photo at top), both typical for this time of year.

These waterfalls are flowing to Panther Hollow Lake while the wind lifts leaves in the background.

When I reached the bottom of the valley Panther Hollow Lake looked somewhat ice covered but it is completely ice free among the cattails …

… and ice free around the edges.

Wind pushed the water in the opposite direction of flow.

Panther Hollow Lake freezes early and thaws early because it is so shallow. Though named a “lake” it has all the characteristics of a small pond. About a 1/3 of the area inside the concrete edge is thick with cattails — a wetland — and the open water is only about 4 inches deep with a maximum depth of 2 feet in one small spot.

Ice walking season is over. If you ever contemplated doing it, consider this from the blog Lake Ice: Lake Ice from a Recreational perspective.

Small or shallow ponds present some hazards that are often unexpected.  Their size and shallowness allow the water in them to cool quickly and catch [freeze] easily.  They often provide early season ice.  They also come in early enough in the season that they are likely to see significant warm spells with the attendant risks of ice weakened and thinned by thawing.  During a thaw in ice less than three inches thick, grain boundary melting can take place in a couple hours in warm conditions, especially in the spring when the sun is strong and the days are long.  If the ice was weak yesterday from thaw conditions but feels hard and strong in the morning it may be an illusion.  The only hard ice is on the surface.  It is called overnight ice. The sun only has to soften the hard top layer to make the ice sheet much weaker. 

— Lake Ice: Lake Ice from a Recreational perspective

p.s. If you ever walk on Panther Hollow Lake’s ice and fall through you’re for an unpleasant surprise. The bottom is covered in a thick layer of sediment which, I’ve heard, is so mucky that you will sink into if you try standing on it. You’ll have to leave your boots behind.