Camp Nebagamon

Compiled by Adam Fornear

I have a couple of good friends up in Duluth that are always up for a winter adventure and two weeks ago we half planned something pretty cool up the north shore of HWY 61. The half plan part of this Saturday trip was to make sure we had enough warm clothes and climbing gear for what we hoped to be a great day of ice climbing in below zero weather. The other half was that we weren’t sure of the conditions of the ice… it was a roll of the dice. So, with the truck loaded and an empty stomach we hit HWY 61 with just a cup of coffee. We were aiming for a small creek north of Two Harbors that flowed into Lake Superior. Well, with the temperature not climbing too high and with thoughts of biscuits and gravy at Vanilla Bean in Two Harbors, we decided that it was in our best interest to get a big breakfast. Seriously…it’s -10 degrees out…why would anyone pass up some biscuits and gravy? Back in the truck we go and north we head…next stop Tettegouche State Park to put on the ice climbing boots in warmth. Back in the truck and shortly thereafter we pull off on the side of 61 and park in a snowbank. We grab our packs and bushwhack in the deep snow on a frozen creek, ending at a 60-foot drop off and gazing into the icy blue waters of Lake Superior down below. We start building anchors, put crampons on our boots and assess the site. We were planning on rappelling down this frozen waterfall to the shoreline below and then climb back up. Well the waves were big on Superior that morning (wiping away the beach) and the top of the climb was slushy and held some standing water…not really the makings of a great start. There was much debate, but in the end, we decided rapping down on the wet ice probably wasn’t the best way to start the day in sub-zero temps. So, we packed up the gear and hiked back up to the truck. While we were disappointed, we still knew of some other ice on the North Shore we could check out. Back in the truck, heading up CTY HWY 6 we passed a wolf on the road enroute to the trailhead for Mystical Mountain. We threw the packs on our shoulders and started breaking the trail about two miles back into the Superior Hiking Trail. It was a tough go, but that was kind of the plan: to get a good workout so we could justify pork chops at the HWY 61 Diner later that night! It was absolutely silent out in the woods and just a beautiful day for a trek. After a couple water breaks, we made it to the base of our intended destination…and there was no ice. The packs filled with ropes, harnesses and ice tools suddenly became nothing buy dead weight. Oh well, we hung out there for a while, taking in the beauty of towering pines

and big slabs of granite. We descended back down to a frozen lake and walked the shoreline looking for more crags, wildlife, and tracks in the snow, all the while laughing about something (this crew, Dave and Scott, are never short on laughs). We didn’t climb any ice, and no porkchop dinner, but the day was far from being a waste. We trekked around some amazing land, had a ton of laughs and added a little bit more knowledge of the surrounding area. Next weekend we’ll be back rappelling down to the shores of Lake Superior…and definintely having that pork chop post climb!

I trust your winter is going well and that you are getting really excited about the upcoming summer. Camp is shaping up to be a great summer once again. Trip permits are in the works, program gear is being purchased and most importantly staff are getting hired on for the summer! Remember, if you have any news please shoot it my way and I will get you in the next arrowhead. Email me (Fornear) at [email protected]. Have a great day and shoot me a message about your winter adventures.

IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW that in Minneapolis, Andrew Kuria is staying busy playing soccer, competitive swimming and track. Ian Kuria is spending the year studying in South Africa. Josue Grassi has started taking classes at MCTC College in Minneapolis studying business. Max Kennedy is playing soccer at the U16 level while Drew Malk plays drums and guitar with the School of Rock program and is also playing soccer. Eli Striker is spending the semester teaching English in Ecuador. Isaac Murray Stark rode his bike to the reunion (14 miles and it was 15 degrees out)! Lastly, Will Schwarz has been keeping busy with tennis and football. Will is a lineman and the long snapper for his football team. In Chicago (besides eating way too many donuts) we learned that Jacob Laytin is playing basketball and soccer and Rohan Dhingra played golf this past fall. Mickey Silins is on his school’s basketball team and will be playing tennis this spring. Will Needlman had a great fall season of football. Chase Kornblet is staying active with basketball this winter and then in the spring he will be playing baseball. Both Liam and Simon Mann were lucky enough to have some great powder days skiing in Aspen…super jealous! Brady Rivkin was signing up for a polar plunge in Lake Michigan…I’m waiting to hear back to see how that went for Brady. Hopefully it’s not this week in Chicago…brrrrrrr. Matthew Garchik is playing basketball for his school. Noah Keim, Rohan Dhingra, and Matthew Garchik recently started a Red Cross Club at their school. Michael Rivkin was re-elected as the Vice President of the Chi Psi’s Alpha Zeta Delta chapter.

IN THE WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW DEPARTMENT: Michael Freeman (Denver/Seattle ’98-’03,’05-‘09) has written his first textbook, Programming Skills for Data Science, which teaches the foundational skills necessary to start writing code to wrangle, analyze, and visualize data. Fred Sproat (Duluth, MN ‘13) is the Minnesota Program Manager for Big City Mountaineers, a nonprofit focusing on getting children outdoors.

IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT: It’s a girl, Frankie Sarah, for Ryan Glasspiegel (Chicago ’96-’02,’04-’07,’09) and Karla Bright (Chicago). It’s a girl, Mollie Elizabeth, for Grace Slosburg (Leawood, KS ’04-‘05) and Scott Steffens (Leawood, KS). It’s a boy, Blake Henley, for Ben Broder (Hoboken, NJ ’91-’96, ’98-’02) and Kate Broder (Hoboken, NJ).