Women walked confidently in heeled boots across neatly cleared paths in the snow-encrusted Public Garden yesterday. In Charlestown, the two storms that blanketed the city with snow and then encased it in ice didn't deter elderly residents from walking up the well-salted stairs at the foot of the Bunker Hill Monument.
But it was a different scene in front of the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, where joggers and tourists risked life and limb to traverse one of the city's favorite parks. Caked with trampled snow and ice, the park's walkways were better suited to dog sleds than running shoes.
"In the city it's OK, but around here . . . it's not so good," said Corina Wuthrich, who was attempting to show off the city to two friends from Spain.
The trio picked their way carefully across the glacier-like Arthur Fiedler footbridge and walked gingerly through the partially cleared but unsalted paths to the Hatch Shell. They had wanted to venture over Storrow Lagoon to the edge of the Charles River, but gave up when they saw the snow they would have to trudge through to get there.
"You have to be careful," Wuthrich said. "I don't think it's that well shoveled."
While the city takes care of the Public Garden and the federal government watches over Bunker Hill, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is responsible for the Esplanade. Though crews tried to clear some of the park's paths yesterday, the walkways remained slick with a layer of ice and frozen snow.
State officials did manage to get some areas taken care of, however. Parking spaces near the State House and the Ashburton Place office building where state employees work were pristine, with snow pushed back in neat piles.
"We try to get to the most heavily trafficked areas," department spokeswoman Wendy Fox said, adding that crews planned to shovel the Fiedler footbridge by hand this morning. "It is a priority for us."
Fox said that while salting at other parks is common practice to help get rid of ice, Conservation and Recreation is limited by environmental concerns near the Charles, where salt would pollute the river. Fox said some areas are treated with calcium chloride, less harmful to the ecology.
Businesses and residents face stiff penalties for failing to clear sidewalks of snow. Residents are asked to shovel within six hours of a snowfall, businesses within four hours.
Since last Thursday's storm, Boston's Inspectional Services Department has issued some 250 tickets with fines of $50 for residents and $150 for businesses.
The city can also ticket the state, but so far has opted not to.
"The state's got a large area," said Boston Police Captain Michael Mackan, who heads code enforcement. "If we get a complaint about one of their areas or the MBTA's, I'll call them, and I know they'll get out there and take care of it. . . . Things fall through the cracks."
The city had some of its own snow-clearing responsibilities fall through the cracks. At the Fenway yesterday afternoon, the Park Drive side of the park was cleared, while the Charlesgate side was glacierlike.
"There's no salt or dirt or anything," said Lindsay Cloutier, a Boston University student who passes through the park nearly every day on her way to and from school. "It doesn't make it easy for those of us who walk a lot."
Globe correspondents Sarah E. Metcalf and John S. Forrester contributed to this report.
