Compiled by Adam Fornear
It’s that time of year that I find myself going over trip maps, ferry schedules, and past year trip permits for some of our spectacular wilderness tripping destinations in anticipation of the upcoming tripping season. No wilderness area is the same, and so each place has a unique way to acquire backcountry permits. The really fun part of getting these permits is the flood of memories pouring in from my years on trip staff. That one time there was light flurries at the put-in on East Bearskin, or passing around a five-pound brick of Velveeta cheese for lunch on Lake Four, eating freshly made bannock on Cherokee Lake, and catching loads of smallmouth bass on Clark Lake in Sylvania Wilderness. Anyhow, back to the permits…Isle Royale, Pictured Rocks, rock climbing, and sea kayaking all have an urgency to get on the trip calendar as their due dates come early. While Quetico Provincial Park and the Boundary Waters all have early dates to get permits, we actually cannot pull those just yet for because we do a sign up at camp.
I commonly refer to our wilderness tripping schedule as a grand puzzle. Getting optimal dates for the calendar, hiring 17 trip leaders, and then combining those two to offer the best possible program for our campers is a jig-saw I love putting together. At the moment I’m about two-thirds of the way in collecting all the pieces. That last third of the puzzle will come together by the first week of June, and then I can sit down at the “big table” with the Assistant Trip Director and tackle this puzzle (actually a calendar) that is worthy to be hung in our Trip Room and the Rec Hall. ‘Till then, I’ll keep on hiring some trippers, gathering permits and of course reminiscing on my golden years leading trips through the upper Midwest.
I’m sure you all have some great memories from being out on trail with Camp Nebagamon. Maybe it’s paddling the Eau Claire Lake Chain, hiking the Superior Hiking Trail through the Lutsen, MN area, or maybe hopping across a handful of lakes in the Boundary Waters. I hope you hold those memories tight…I hope you think of them fondly and I hope that hearing our campers today are following in your footsteps puts a little smile on your face.
“Why didn’t you ski the Birkie with me, Fornear?”
In keeping with tradition, we need to give a big HIGH FIVE to Emily Prud’homme, Chris Willett, Mitch Cohen and Elizabeth Becker for skiing the awesome American Birkebeiner this past weekend. The day before the Birkie, Emily Prudhomme (yes…Friday) skied 29K, then on Saturday she skied another 55K and Joe Crownhart skied the Korte (half of Birkie – 29K). With the reunion tour mostly behind us, please take a moment to email what’s going on in your life. Send the news to fornear@campnebagamon.com. Hope your winter is going well but what you are really thinking about is getting out on at least one of Nebagamon’s sweet wilderness trips this summer!
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW that Oliver Held is playing basketball for his high school team called the Panthers in Kiev, Ukraine and his younger brother Ari is also playing basketball. While in San Diego we learned that Jackson Dewitt is the libero on his school’s volleyball team. Ben Effress stays busy playing defense in soccer, running back and linebacker in football, and volleyball teams for his high school. Sean McSherry is keeping busy with stage design building for his school’s theater department and is also growing a pomegranate tree. Ace Burvall is playing basketball, and his soccer team won the state cup. Asher Burvall is active in his school’s Entrepreneur Club and he is in production of his first video game. Addison Burvall is keeping busy with ballet, jazz dance and recently was Fritz in The Nutcracker. Northward we went, and once we arrived in Los Angeles, we were informed that Jacob Lutsky is keeping busy with Tae Kwon Do and is trying out for baseball and volleyball. Jordan Carlin is active with robotics, speech and debate at school and also is the backstage guy for his school’s theater productions. John Bermudez is keeping busy playing and building with his friends in his neighborhood. Rafa Posen’s band played at the Troubadour and he is also enjoying playing soccer.
IN THE WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW DEPARTMENT: Dan Michel (Providence, RI ’06-’11,’13) is the Director at Brewster Day Camp – Cape Cod.
IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT: It’s a boy, Benjamin Allen, for Andy Cohen (St. Louis/NYC ’78-‘83). It’s a boy, Ethan Hamilton, for Andrew May (’92-’98,’00-‘01) and Lauren May (Chicago).