Compiled by Adam Fornear
Wild Ice…It’s a thing. I’d never heard of the term until one of my old professors mentioned it a couple weeks back in a text. It was a simple text: “Wild Ice in the Boundary Waters. Load up your ice skates and meet me at Seagull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail tomorrow morning.” I was game for a road trip north, so the next morning I made the three-and-a-half hour drive to the end of the Gunflint with my skates, snacks, lifejacket and some really good cheese. When I saw Seagull Lake and its “Wild Ice” it all made sense.
“Wild Ice” is the moment in time when the lakes freeze over smooth as glass and there is no snow, allowing you to freely ice skate into the Boundary Waters. I’ve backpacked in the BW, paddled the BW, skied in the BW and now I can say I have skated in the BW. I’m not talking about skating on a rink that someone shoveled off either, we had a huge part of the lake at our feet. All told we skated 22 miles that day on the most pristine, glassy ice I have ever seen. We skated along large rocky bluffs and over drop offs that played games with your eyes. We spied on insects and minnows swimming beneath us under the crystal clear two or three inches of ice. It was smooth, fast, and eerily enchanting.
Midway through the day we pulled up to a Boundary Waters campsite for lunch. Rather than pulling up to the site in a 17’ canoe we rolled up in our 20” Nordic skates. Cutting firewood to cook the brats in a pair of ski boots (Nordic skates have a cross country ski binding and you use your ski boots), sitting on the logs around a fire, just enjoying this great moment in time and the beauty of the BWCA.
It was a rather quick lunch as we came to skate, and skate we did. We racked up a bunch more miles, checked out another lake and skated well after the sun had set. It was a glorious day in the BWCA…one that will go down in history.
If you want to see a video from my best day in 2020 check it out here. It literally looked like we were skating on open water.
I would love to hear from all of you via email (fornear@campnebagamon.com). Send me some news about yourself, your kids or your friends and I will make them famous in our newsletter…Promise (send a picture too). I’d love to hear about any of your mini adventures as well. Get outdoors and keep on laughing!
IT MAY INTERESTE YOU TO KNOW that Nicolas Kallos (Chicago) is building a scaled model of a ’69 Camaro Z28…now that is a sweet set of wheels! Ari Held (Kiev, Ukraine) has been staying active playing basketball with his brother Oliver Held (Kiev, Ukraine). Seth Lambert (Bloomington, IL) is taking care of his seven-month-old basset hound and is still growing the lemon trees that he started from seed over the summer. Addison Burvall (San Diego, CA) performed in The Nutcracker Re-Imagined last month. I watched it via the internet and can say that Addison has mad skills!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Cathy Fries (Lake Nebagamon, WI ’99-Present) would like to say hello and Thank You to the Camp Nebagamon family! Michael Kaplan (Evanston/L.A. ‘01-’05,’07-‘08) is an Investigative Producer for CBS News.
WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS go to Paul Schutz (Chicago ’97-’02,’04,’06,’08,’10) and Lauren Schutz (Chicago). Congratulations also go to Adam Scharff (Glyndon, MD ’00-‘04) and Kayleigh Scharff (Glyndon, MD).
IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT: It’s a girl, Nola Jane Berger, for Andrew Oshman (Dallas ’85-‘88) and Amy Oshman (Dallas). It’s a girl, Vira, for Kathryn Korchak (Gallagher) (Lake Nebagamon/Minneapolis ’09-’11,’15) and Kostiantyn Korchak (Minneapolis). It’s a boy, Jack, for Elisa Noble (Minneapolis ’09-‘11) and Luke Noble (Minneapolis).