Missing Ice Climber: A 32-year-old man ice climbing along the cliff near Miners Castle in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore slipped and went missing Tuesday late afternoon. (This photo is of another icy location in the park at Sand Point.) Large waves and ice formations made a search difficult Tuesday evening, which was called off and resumed the next morning. Later on Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard, which brought in a helicopter to aid with the search, announced that it had suspended the search for James Bake of Gaylord, Mich., who was climbing with a friend when a wave from Lake Superior apparently caused him to fall from an icy rock ledge, according to a report by Matt Durr for MLive. "After receiving a report of the mishap about 5:15 p.m. (Tuesday), Sector Sault Ste. Marie joined an interagency response with National Park Service Rangers and the Alger County Rescue 21 team," the USCG announced in a press release. "The Coast Guard routinely trains with both agencies for similar emergencies, and sent an ice rescue team from Station Marquette and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Traverse City to join the search. Difficult weather conditions prevented the ice rescue team from launching. The helicopter searched into the evening but was unable to locate the missing man, and a second helicopter from Air Station Traverse City returned at first light and completed its search, also with no sightings."
Bad Luck Barquentine: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society out of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on Wednesday announced its earlier discovery of the 144-foot barquentine Nucleus. The Nucleus was found in 600 feet of water about 40 miles northwest of Vermilion Point in Lake Superior. A barquentine is a three or more masted schooner. The society, which also owns and operates the Whitefish Point Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, wrote this about the find: "The Nucleus sank on Sept. 14, 1869, when it was downbound from Marquette carrying a load of iron ore. The Nucleus was no stranger to accidents though. It had already sunk twice, and in 1854, rammed and sank the sidewheeler S.S. Detroit in Lake Huron. On that September day in 1869, the Nucleus was caught in a bad storm on Lake Superior and started to take on water. The leak became so bad the crew had to abandoned ship and took to their lifeboat. The Nucleus sank shortly afterwards. If Nucleus had its share of bad luck, so too did its crew once they cast off from the sinking ship. After a few hours in their yawl, the Nucleus crew spotted, and hailed the S.S. Union. The officers reportedly spotted the Nucleus crew struggling in the storm … but chose to keep on steaming, leaving them behind. Fortunately, they were soon picked up by the schooner Worthington, with no loss of life. The Nucleus sank in 1869, making it one of the oldest ships to go down along Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast." A Vimeo video show underwater images of the wreck with observations by society researchers. Shipwreck Society Executive Director Bruce Lynn reflected on the discovery in the announcement. "This is a pretty significant shipwreck … considering its age, the fact that it is a barquentine, and we can’t overlook the vessel’s checkered past. The wreck site is littered with shovels, too … and a few dinner plates, which speaks to their work and shipboard life." The announcement continued, "The Shipwreck Society discovered the Nucleus using a Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar in the summer of 2021, and positively identified the wreck in 2022 using the organization’s ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle). GLSHS Director of Marine Operations Darryl Ertel Jr. found the wreck to be in surprisingly good condition. 'The stern was intact. It had a straight back stern and then the port side also was intact. And so, I was more excited about it because at first, I thought it was totally in pieces on the bottom.'”
Loose Moose No Recluse: A young moose near Thunder Bay was recently causing some trouble by approaching vehicles on the highway. Apparently, according to TBay photographer Chris Artist, who took a video from his vehicle, the young female's mother had been hit by a car in October. This moose was very sweet and, unfortunately, people-oriented with many well-intentioned people feeding and petting her. Because of that, regional wildlife authorities decided to relocate her and she found a home in Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Muskoka, a little more than 745 miles to the southeast of Thunder Bay. The sanctuary posted this image of the moose on its Facebook page with the note: " A huge thank you to everyone involved in getting this young moose calf to us all the way down from Thunder Bay. To the National Wildlife Centre for driving all the way up and bringing her here through multiple snowstorms and road closures. To the residents of Thunder Bay for their concern and to the MNRF for allowing her to go into rehab. She is very small and underweight for her age and is currently being housed on her own until she gains more weight and more stable. Once she’s ready she will be introduced to another calf that just came into us this winter."
Name That Plow: More than 64,000 people voted for the Minnesota Department of Transportation's latest round of Name that Snowplow, and the winner for northeast Minnesota is … Clearopathtra. Other winning snowplow names around the state were Yer a Blizzard, Harry (southwest); Blizzo (Twin Cities Metro); Better Call Salt (central); Han Snowlo (south central); Blader Tot Hotdish (northwest); Scoop! There It Is (southeast) and Sleetwood Mac (west central). Yes, when you have a long season of white, witty is the way to go (or blow). You can see the full list of 60 name entries online, including some famous namedroppers like Bobsled Dylan, Ted Las-snow and Wolfgang Amadeus Snowzart.
Make Plans: Here are a few events coming up soon to put on a fun-do list:
Michigan
Thru Sunday, Feb. 11: Michigan Technlogical University's Winter Carnival is underway. Organized by Blue Key National Honor Society since 1934, Winter Carnival started in 1922 and has grown into one of the biggest annual winter celebrations in the nation, say organizers. Events including a torchlight parade and fireworks, amazing sculptures based on the theme "Tasty Foods for Wintry Moods," a snow sculpture tour and a performance by Saturday Night Live cast member Mikey Day. Check out the all-nighter snow sculpting video on Visit Keweenaw's Facebook page.
Tonight, Feb. 9: The DeVos Art Museum on the campus of Northern Michigan University will host "Shaking Hands with the Dead," a talk by filmmaker Andrew Gingerich whose narrative fiction and hybrid documentary work explores notions of family, unfamiliar identities, regional allegiances, and the boundaries of fiction. Andrew was born and raised in northern Colorado and has spent his adult life as a voluntary Midwesterner, making and teaching film in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota again, Wisconsin and Michigan. He holds a B.F.A. from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Minnesota
Thru Feb. 14: The Hygge Festival in Cook County continues through Valentine's Day, with a full series of activities and gatherings to inspire you for embracing life's simple pleasures (that's Danish concept of “hygge," pronounced hoo-gah).
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 10-11: "Forward" features contemporary works choreographed by Minnesota Ballet faculty, guest choreographer Adam McKinney, and company dancers Ken Shiozawa and Ellis Roux in performances at Studio Four this weekend in Duluth.
Saturday, Feb. 11: the 3rd Annual Northland BIPOC Business Showcase in The St. Louis County Depot in Duluth features local vendors, a fashion show, food, live music and kids activities. It showcases the businesses owned and operated by Black, Indigenous and other People of Color.
Wisconsin
Saturday, Feb. 11: Horse Spirit Equine Assisted Learning will hold its 3rd annual Ice Fishing Event at Grindstone Lake in Hayward. There will be door prizes, lunch, fun and fishing. All are welcome and equipment is available for those without their own set ups.
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 10-12: Howl Adventure Center in Bayfield hosts its Snow Shelter Event. The fun-filled weekend starts with a clinic on how to build a snow shelter on Friday, then teams or individuals have the weekend to complete a shelter. Sunday afternoon the Howl judges will tour the shelters and the great prizes from area vendors will be awarded. Wear your snow clothes, bring shovels, snowshoes and headlamps if you've got 'em. Beer specials in the taproom for participants.
Ontario
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 10-12: Disrupt It Weekend in Thunder Bay, hosted by the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre and Confederation College, is a fun, interactive event working with like-minded individuals to generate ideas and turn them into a busines. This year any idea goes as there is no theme for this eighth rendition of the event, open to all. The weekend starts on Friday evening with participants pitching their ideas (if they have one) to their peers who will then vote on the top ideas that will be worked on over the weekend. The participants self-form teams around these ideas depending on where their skills are needed and which ideas they are most passionate about. They will spend the weekend working on the idea, building the business model around it, and getting ready to pitch. The event concludes with teams pitching their ideas to a panel of judges in hopes of winning the final prize.
Thru Saturday, Feb. 11: Bon Soo in Sault Ste. Marie wraps up this weekend with the snow sculpture event now in progress at the Clergue Park Skating Trail, plus an on-going exhibit of the past 60 years of Bon Soo at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum. Hiawatha Highlands hosts two Bon Soo Lantern Ski nights (Friday and Saturday) and the Bon Voyage Street Party and Closing Ceremony will be 4-7 p.m. Saturday.
Photo & graphic credits: National Park Service; Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society; Chris Artist; Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary; Minnesota DOT; DeVos Art Museum/Horse Spirit/Al Lindsey (Hygge Festival)/Distrupt Weekend