By Joe Crain
A mighty White Pine!
The hot, humid, and rainy weather pattern that started in July continued through the month of August here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The area received 10 inches of rain from eight storms in the past 28 days! Several of the storms were rather severe and did a bit of tree damage as they rolled into and through the area. The weekend of August 8th and 9th was especially noteworthy with a multi-front storm that brought 60+ mph winds and six inches of rain! We saw several trees down around camp, most of which had been snapped off 10-15 feet above the ground. The most impressive of the damaged trees was the top 60 feet of the White Pine just off the corner of LJ .5. The storm left 20 feet of trunk standing and deposited the remaining 60 feet neatly across the back yard of the Rec-Hall. Thankfully no buildings sustained any damage from that storm, or from any of the storms throughout the month. Seemingly for days on end this month the humidity level of 80 percent matched the temperature of 80 degrees, making for some very oppressive days; thankfully the lake was always welcoming and gave us sweet relief on those particularly warmer days. Wanda and I spent many evenings jumping off of the Mud Turtle, our pontoon boat, beating the heat and enjoying the beauty of Lake Nebagamon.
A big silver lining from this summer of Covid is that I was able to take my very first “summer” vacation in the past 24 years. I took the week that would have been Family camp off and headed over to our little off the grid cabin on the Amnicon River with my little 5-pound dog, Zigs. The highlights of the week were our two treks on sections of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCNST). Our first hike was a 4.5 mile out back from the McQuarrie Wetlands Trailhead to the Mud Creek Overlook, a section of the NCNST, two miles from the Wisconsin/Minnesota border, 10 minutes south of the city of Superior, WI, and about 45 minutes from camp. The first mile and a half of this section of the NCNST takes you through open grassland that is punctuated with several natural and engineered ponds that I have read are teaming with water fowl during the spring and fall migrations. Not being migration season yet, Zigs and I only saw three swans-a-swimming when we stopped for a water break at the Oswald viewing platform that extends out into one of the larger ponds. Our second trek took us to Solon Springs, Wisconsin, and the northern tip of Upper Saint Croix Lake, just about 20 minutes south of Camp.
There, we hiked the historic portage section of the NCNST. This two-mile portage connects the head waters of the St Croix River that flows south to the Mississippi River and the head waters of the Brule River that flows north to Lake Superior (a section of river our campers paddle every summer!). The portage has a long history of use by Native Americans, European explorers, fur traders and settlers who traveled between the Great Lakes and Mississippi watersheds. Zigs and I used the trail from the St Croix trailhead to the Chuck Zosel Viewing Platform purely for pleasure and logged five miles for the day when we added the ½ mile of the Brule Bog Boardwalk to our in/out hike. These were both great hikes that I would highly recommend to any of you looking for a counselor’s day off or camp family visit day adventure.
Congratulations Jack!
Finally, this month marked the official retirement of Caretaker Jack from camp’s caretaking crew. Jack Served as Camp Nebagamon’s seasonal Caretaker for 18 years and as a trip driver for one year in the middle of his time with us. Jack was always a warm, reliable and steady member of our caretaking team who will be much missed and very hard to find a replacement for. Jack was an avid golfer during his time off and his love of ranch dressing was legendary. We had a “farewell” party for him on the upper diamond complete with a chipping golf course that featured several camp props to chip at, from the old basketball back board from the waterfront courts to an old toilet bowl and several other items in between. A scrumptious lunch was prepared by Camps head cook Ann Rowe and camps waterfront director Henry Pulitzer. Of course, these two culinary masters devised delicious ways to incorporate ranch dressing into each of the luncheon offerings. Farewell Jack and best of luck in your next chapter!!
Hoping you all made the best of this summer, it’s Caretaker Joe At Camp.
It’s Zigs at camp, too!