By Joe Crain
With just a few days left in the month of February, the scene outside my office window was looking very April. The only snow in view was a few stubborn low piles in the shadiest areas near my yard. A thin and bedraggled patch of ice was seen on the pond area out back of my house. Caretaker Andy found only six inches of ice out on Lake Nebagamon on his last trip out to catch a fish from under the ice. (The fishing has been pretty poor, he also reported.) Typically there would be between 20 and 30 inches of ice at this point in an average winter! Thankfully, area ice-adventurers have been practicing caution and no one has been foolish enough to take anything larger than a small 4-wheeler out on the ice. Strangely, for almost all of February, we have had but one day of winter-like temperatures each week. For the first three weeks of the month it was on Friday. Each week’s forecast called for temps 15-20 degrees above average for both daytime highs as well as nighttime lows. But each week the forecast called for average or below average temps for Thursday night through Saturday morning with above average predicted again by Saturday afternoon. So we would go through the week with temps well into the 30s and even into the 40s with an occasional 50 thrown in, and then plummet deep into the 20s on Friday then bounce right back to the mid-30s or higher for the weekend and start of the next week. On the “Winter” Fridays, we might see a dusting to an inch of snow fall, which of course was gone by Sunday morning. According to the National Weather Service in Duluth, this is the least amount of snowfall at this point in the winter since record keeping began!
Of course, all of this dry warm winter weather has wreaked havoc on all of the area’s winter festivities. Ice fishing contests have all been canceled due to thin ice. Almost all of the dog sled races in the region had to be canceled. At least up in Alaska, they are having a snowy winter and were able to hold the Jr. Iditarod sled dog race. The race covers 150 miles in the Alaskan wilderness and is run by teens from 14-17 years old. With no local races held this year, all area eyes were on the Jr. Iditarod watching a local 17-year-old from Brule, Wisconsin, just up County Road B from camp. Well Morgen Martens didn’t let his local fans down as he took second place in the Jr Iditarod! Closer to home, The American Birkebeiner, the largest cross country ski marathon in the US, was under threat of cancelation due to no snow. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the 50 kilometer race from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin just south of Lake Nebagamon. Any of you who have paddled the Namekagon River with camp’s tripping program should be somewhat familiar with the Hayward area; the river snakes parallel to the Birkie course, just on the other side of Highway 63. Being the 50th Anniversary running of the race the organizers decided cancellation was not an option, and began snow making and hauling to produce a 10-kilometer track at the head of the normal race course. You may recall from past articles that Camp Nebagamon is well represented at the Birkie. This year, although many Nebagamites signed up for the race, only former tripper Emily Prud’homme and Anders Burvall, not exactly staff but longtime camp family member and husband of our nurse Amber Burvall, were able to overcome the conditions and attend on race day. (An honorable mention goes to trip driver Amy Mack who only missed the race due to illness.) The real story here is Anders; he had never skied before signing up for the big race and with little chance of seeing any snow back home in his area of California he had learned on dryland “roller skis” to skate ski. Anders had it all planned out to come to camp a week early to get some practice on actual snow and actual skies. Well when Anders arrived the Saturday before the big event wouldn’t you know it, no snow to practice on! So Anders had his very first ski, on actual skis and snow, the day of the race! A brave soul who likes a good challenge, he went forward undeterred. According to Caretaker Andy who attended the event, Anders had surprisingly good form on his two laps of the ten-kilometer course. Anders said it was much harder than he expected, especially ascending the hills! He was able to complete the 20 kilometers in about two hours. I think his pluck and fortitude is a great example for all of the Camp Nebagamon Family!
Gearing up for this week’s touch of winter, which is predicted for Wednesday this week, its caretaker Joe At Camp.