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Early Summer Start? Camp Squirrels Away Lake Ice

Instead of refrigeration units, campers use lake ice packed into insulated ice houses that keep the blocks frozen through summer.
Image: Jane Kellogg, left, works to guide ice blocks weighing 120 to 160 pounds during the annual ice harvest on Squam Lake
Jane Kellogg, left, works to guide ice blocks weighing 120 to 160 pounds during the annual ice harvest on Squam Lake in Sandwich, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015.Jim Cole / AP

The tradition of harvesting lake ice at a New Hampshire campground is off to a cold and early start.

Instead of refrigeration units, campers use lake ice packed into insulated ice houses that keep the blocks frozen through summer.

If the ice gets to 11 or 12 inches thick, up to 200 tons are removed. The 16-by-19-inch ice blocks weigh between 120 and 160 pounds each.

Image: Dave Lacasse loads blocks of ice weighing 120 to 160 pounds during there annual ice harvest
Dave Lacasse loads blocks of ice weighing 120 to 160 pounds during there annual ice harvest on Squam Lake Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, in Sandwich, N.H.Jim Cole / AP

— The Associated Press