Thin Ice

[-Carlos-]

I have lived in sunny Florida for over 40 years and have seen snow only twice in my life. I was born and raise in the tropics. This question is for those who live up in the cold.

How does one determine the thickness of ice (river) just by looking? Does the color change? Can one see through the thin ice to the water below it?

I haven't a clue. I need this info for a tale I'm writing.

Can you tell me in detail (please) the characteristics of ice when it's thin or thick?

Thanks!

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[-Carlos-]

What I need (precisely) is how the ice is visually inspected for thickness.

In one part of my story, a shaman (an old Inuit indian) has been traveling alone (with sled dogs) through the harsh freeze of Greenland. He is in a rush to save a life and can't stop. Eventually he has to find food for himself and the dogs. He finds a frozen pond but hesitates to venture in since winters is almost over (and he is traveling southward). He gathers his ice fishing gear and risks his life on what he, through his experience, thinks is safe ice....

Now what visual signs in the ice made him take the risk? What attributes in the ice did he see that made him feel safe to enter the lake. Can an expert on ice, like my fictional character, be fooled into thinking that he is walking on thick when in fact is is thin?

Modern tools would not work because the story is set (not sure yet) sometime during the turn of the 20th century; and the guy is indigenous.