No way I would have been way out on LOW with a wind forecast like that. Dumb
this
I was on big windy for the first time - but with a group of seasoned veterans
an honestly unforecasted squall came through mid-afternoon (ground white-out) and it was all we could do to get things broke down and head for safety
I had to lead the group off (3 or 4 sleds/wheelers) because another better GPS system had crapped out and another guy with a decent unit had split off with two kids and was having his own issues and finding him was impossible - no phone service so no idea where he was.
I had a POS tiny Lowrance H20 - the mapping part was impossibly small and visibility sucked. So I set it on "compass" and we eventually hit shore close to the original access. I was so damn stressed out knowing that little battery powered POS was the key.
We waited an hour as it got dark and the other guy came limping in on a half-running sled - thank God. He had broke a belt and the replacement on the borrowed sled was wrong size. So he had put the kids in a shelter and somehow battled through it and got that wrong size belt on anyway.
I will never ever ever be on a lake in white-out again if I can help it. That afternoon had a really crappy feeling about it.
We tried to laugh it off at the bar later but everybody was uncharacteristically quiet if you know what I mean. It's called dread... and you don't shake that feeling quickly. I still get a sick feeling if I put myself back there intensely.