By Joe Crain
It was quite an interesting month for us here at camp, filled with weather extremes, off site adventure and a good showing at the annual camp in winter Reunion.
In the extreme weather category, we had a visit from them all. Extremely warm: a 37-degree high temperature on January 4thand a 36-degree high reading on the 7th; January 3rd– 9thsaw no high
“A gorgeous sun rise over the lake — If only I could turn my head to see it!”
high temperature below freezing; January 7thsaw 24 hours above freezing! Extreme cold: January 1stsaw a 5-degree high and -15 low; January 25ththrough the 31stsaw the lowest lows of the winter with low readings of (listed in order) -27, -29, -27, 0, -25, -28, and -13 degrees, and four days of that same seven-day period saw highs that didn’t climb above zero (The 25thhigh, -2, 29thhigh, -9, 30thhigh -10, 31sthigh -3!). Extreme low to high and high to low: January 3rd, low -18 degrees to high 34 degrees (a 52-degree positive swing!); January 21st18-degree high to -20-degree low (a 38-degree negative swing!) And the finale extreme for this January: it was extremely dry. Historically this month is one of the snowiest of our area’s winters but this year only about five inches fell. And though meager, the snow fall was welcome and covered the dense and icy 10-or-so inches left from December’s only real snow storm. Wow, I just dumped an extreme amount of extreme weather data on you!
Caretaker Joe tackles the Yellowstone winter
One of my favorite things about Camp Nebagamon is how it encourages us all, camper and staff alike, to seek out and embrace the adventures available in the wilderness that surrounds us, whether here at camp, near our homes, or anywhere we find it throughout this great and diverse land we call home, America. Each summer I am inspired by those boys who, whether for the first time in their lives or for the umpteenth time, take an off-camp trip with the tripping program here at camp. Last year I took that inspiration and, with some good solid “nudging” from my wife and the financial support of my buddy Visa, I headed off on a back country ski adventure to the 2.2 million acre wilderness of Yellowstone National Park. And just like what happens with so many boys at camp after their first trip to the BWCAW, I couldn’t get enough and spent a lot of time after my trip thinking about my next trip back. Well my buddy Visa and I pulled it off again this January and I went back to the Yurt Camp of Yellowstone Expeditions for another five days of back country skiing in the vast wilderness of YNP. And just like it must be for those boys who take a wilderness trip for a second time at camp, I found that on my second trip to the backcountry of YNP I was much less apprehensive and fearful of the unknowns that lay around that blind corner. Instead I was much more interested in embracing and seeking out those unknowns down around that blind river canyon corner. I was amazed by how different this year’s adventure was from last year’s. Not only was I more confident because of all I learned on last year’s trip, but also due to a totally different set of weather-produced conditions. In a lot of ways, it was just like going for the first time. In a nut shell I can describe this years’ trip as less euphoric and thrilling than last, but in a lot of ways much more interesting and technically and physically challenging. And yes- I am already starting to think about the routes I would like to explore the next time I am able to make the trip to my favorite National Park in winter.
And finally, this January’s unofficial camp-in-winter reunion was a huge success. The reunion has taken place annually for a long time now and coincided with what used to be the weekend of “Fish-o-Rama”, the Lake Nebagamon community’s annual ice fishing contest, which is now held the weekend of “Bridges Bar Ice Fishing Contest” due to the collapse of our local Lions Club sponsorship of the “Fish-o-Rama” a few years back. For me this reunion weekend started as I was working in the shop on Friday the 25th, (you remember from above that the temp on that morning was -27 degrees!) when Henry Pulitzer and Mathew Wilhelm stopped into the shop and gave me a break from stripping paint off of Range Cabin A’s French windows. After catching up for a while the two wandered off into the extreme cold to explore Camps’ grounds in its white winter regalia. A couple of hours later I saw how big the turn out for this years’ winter camp reunion was going to be, when I answered the door to what seemed at the time like an episode of “clown car meets polar exploration team”. In they came, all dressed in puffy coats, big warm boots, faces covered in balaclavas, and all were topped off with big warm hats. These guys had seen the nasty cold forecast and just as you would expect from a bunch of former campers, some of whom have become current Camp Nebagamon staff, they were PREPARRED! In rolled (and not in any sort of order); Zach Muzik, Max Goldsmith, Noah Kanter, Adam Schimberg, Andy Cohen, Sam Feldman, Dan Michel, Matt Myer, and Grant Chukerman! After rubbing my arm from the cramp I got from shaking all of those hands and making my quip about “Where did you park the Clown Car?”, we passed around some small talk and then the crew headed over to the Swamper hill for a good dose of sliding down the tiers beside Swamper 6 to the tennis courts below, a fun sled ride I highly recommend to all who brave camp in winter. It turns out that the camp in winter reunion crew swelled by five more at the dinner held by Henry at camp’s head cook Anne Rowe’s house on the lake. The additional reunion-ers were Todd Blatt, Anne Rowe, Elissa Skaggs, Andy Mack and Lindsey Evans. I’ll bet that reunion turn out rivals some of the groups Adam and Adam host on their winter tour!
Thinking up ways to earn some extra dough so I can once again go play in the snow of YNP, it’s Caretaker Joe At Camp.
Camp’s wintertime visitors!