Compiled by Adam Fornear
Wow! Now that was a summer to never forget. There were so many different firsts, like COVID testing stations, vaccination shots behind the Big House, and most meals outside, but more importantly to me, much of the summer felt the same. There was still the Big Brother/Little Brother Soirée, a busy waterfront and of course a wilderness trip program that got out all over the region!
Despite a shorter window to send out trips this summer, we got all campers who wanted to go out an incredible wilderness experience. We got our 3rd graders out on their cabin trip to the YMCA camp across the lake and the 4th graders paddled the Eau Claire Lake chain in the Chequamegon National Forest. Our 5th graders paddled down the Namekagon River, scouting out some new sections for me that I’m excited to send trips to next summer as well. Then there were the older boy trips, 6th through 10th grade.
We were able to get 32 campers over to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for an incredible 5 days of hiking, all ending their last day with a scramble down the 300-foot sand dune at Log Slide. The older campers also took advantage of the Superior Hiking Trail. The SHT is a gorgeous and rugged trail that is 310 miles long that follows the north shore of Lake Superior from Duluth to the Canadian border. Our boys experienced some amazing vistas overlooking Lake Superior, beautiful bog walks and of course amazing meals on trail (one of the new classics is spring rolls…I tried them out and they are legit!). We also paddled hundreds of miles down the Namekagon and St. Croix rivers. One group of campers on the Namekagon caught over 25 smallmouth bass in a couple days! And our two 9th grade Big Trips each paddled over 110 miles on the Nam and St. Croix. Lastly, we got plenty of trips up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Trips ranged from 4 days, perfect for lots of campers first experience in the BWCA, to our 10th grade Big Trip. Our 10th graders, who normally go to Quetico for their big trip, headed into the BW zigging and zagging through the park for 13 days and then getting picked up at Lake Superior after completing the 8.2-mile Grand Portage on day 14. What a great way to wrap up your wilderness tripping career as a camper at Nebagamon!
Needless to say, I am proud of what our wilderness trip program accomplished this summer. The staff did an incredible job. The camper’s enthusiasm for backcountry travel is refreshing and I believe that there was very quantifiable personal growth for everyone that went out on trail or helped make it happen. I cannot wait to fire up the Nebagamon Wilderness Tripping program for next summer!
Now, I know you all love my musings on the great North Woods, but the real meat and potatoes is the news of the camp family, and I’m going to need your help! I can spot news of the camp family on the Facebook and Instagram but what would be really sweet, is that if you have some news, please shoot me an email at fornear@campnebagamon.com. I would greatly appreciate your help! In the meantime, I trust that all of you are enjoying the fall and hopefully are getting outside for some fresh air adventures!
IN THE WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW DEPARTMENT: Noah Saag (Baltimore/Boston ’00-’04,’06-’09,’11-’12,’14) is the Director of Operations for Boston University women’s basketball team. Matthew S. T. Mendelsohn (CT ’97-‘00) was named Yale University’s new chief investment officer. Victor Jacob Kessler (St. Louis/Ithaca, NY ’99-’04,’06-’09,’11-‘12) is now the assistant city attorney for Ithaca, NY.
WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS go to Dan Levis (Chicago/NYC ’98-’03,’05-’08,’16) and Lia Levis (NYC), and to Brian Zager (LA/Houston ’93-’99, ’01-’03) and Suzie Cohen (Houston).
CONGRATULATIONS ON RECENT ENGAGEMENTS go to Jordon DeGroote (West Windsor, NJ ’08-’13) and Claudia Siniakowicz (New Jersey).
IN THE BIBS and DIAPERS DEPARTMENT! It’s a girl, July Glass, for Margot (Glasspiegel) Materer (CT/Chicago ’04-‘05) and Patrick Materer (Chicago).