Dude, That's Crazy!

It is always my hope to inspire even one person to live with purpose, passion, and peace.  When you get to be my age, you tend to look back and wonder why you didn't do it sooner.  It has always been my choice; I just didn't realize it until I had years of living under my belt.

But some people make that choice at a very young age.  They are pulled by their passion and nothing gets in their way.  Surrounding myself with passionate people inspires me, and on the final evening of my recent adventure to the Michigan Ice Fest, I found myself not only inspired, but once again wondering why I had waited so long to do this!  One of my many inspirations came from an extraordinary young woman named Zoe Hart.

Zoe Hart, Google Images

Having climbed Opening Curtain during the day with Zoe, I was looking forward to her presentation and learning more about her.  Zoe's personality shines in even the briefest of moments spent in her company, but I didn't learn much about her history or what brought her here, nor did I have the opportunity to ask her my burning question about why she does this, what makes her different? The answer was self-evident in her personality anyway.  Zoe Hart is joyful, passionate, energetic, infectious, strong, supportive…shall I go on?  I could.  So much life emanates from her!  A compact little bundle of passion, Zoe's every word and every movement made me want to reach for the sky and believe I could accomplish anything.

Zoe Hart, Google Images

One of only four American women to have achieved the highest accreditation from the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association, Zoe is one of the few alpinists I met who did not grow up hearing the call to the mountains.  She grew up in New Jersey, and then went to Boston College to study English Literature in what she calls the path to a normal life.  But then her father passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack, and the impact on Zoe pushed her to find her passion.  She went to the mountains, and the rest is history.  Zoe has achieved first ascents on mountains in Switzerland, Scotland, and Oman, and first female ascents in Alaska.  She also set a first ski descent speed record in Pakistan.

Maxime Turgeon and Zoe Hart, Google Images

While climbing in France, Zoe met her future husband, alpinist Maxime Turgeon, and they now live in Chamonix, France with their infant son.  When the relationship was new, Max would take care of Zoe while climbing, but now that the honeymoon is over he serves as her greatest inspiration while pushing her to her limits and insisting she carry her own weight!

Zoe Hart and Sue Nott
Google Images

Zoe's zest for living and pushing herself carries into every aspect of her life.  During her presentation, she spoke of her mentors, particularly Sue Nott, who taught her to forget she's a woman when climbing, but hide fashion magazines in her pack.  Sue died while climbing, as have other partners Zoe has had, and the impact on Zoe is to push herself further to keep their memory alive.

It was fitting that at the end of Zoe's presentation, we were honored by a special guest, Sue Nott's mother, Evi.

Maddie, Rachael, and Evi

Evi had been in our group of women that day, climbing the ice for the first time in 10 years.  I was drawn to her from the moment we met for her grace and warmth.  She is one of those rare people that makes you feel good with just a smile and a kind word.  Her encouragement for

 the rest of us that day was so genuine and uplifting.  She was attending the Michigan Ice Fest for the first time, brought by event organizer Bill Thompson to present the Sue Nott scholarship to Maddie and Rachael for their foray into ice climbing.  Each year, two young girls are awarded a scholarship to attend the ice fest and continue the passion of Sue Nott for female alpinists.

Evi faced a roomful of 450 people and spoke of her daughter with laughter and love.  After giving background on Sue's unstoppable quest for conquering mountains, Evi joked that she had sent Sue to college and begged her to complete those last 4 credits to graduate, when Sue left to climb a mountain with partner Karen McNeill of New Zealand.  Evi's voice dropped then, and it seems everyone in that room knew what was coming next except me.  You could have heard a pin drop as Evi said,

Karen Mcneill and Sue Nott, Google Images

"In May of 2006, Sue and Karen left to climb Mount Foraker in Alaska, and were never seen again".

I thought about that statement.  Never seen again.  Two days after they should have made contact, search crews set out, but other than Sue's backpack, nothing was ever found to explain what happened to these two women.  They just…disappeared.  They were taken by the mountain to forever be a part of it.

I began to understand Evi Nott's strength.  Not because she lives with the uncertainty of what happened to her child, but because even knowing the risks, she allowed her child to go.  It isn't that she just allowed it, but she loved and celebrated her daughter in living a life of passion.  It takes a special kind of love, the kind of love every mother should know, to give her child the gift of following her dream.

In Memory of Sue Nott
Google Images

Evi Nott loved and lost her daughter; but she shares her memories and inspires others to live the way Sue lived.  I am honored to have spent time with Evi, I will never forget her smile, the kind words she spoke to me, and her strength.  And even now, she climbs the ice like a pro; she wasn't even tired when she finished!  I asked her how it felt to climb again, and with her beautiful smile, Evi said,

"It felt great!"

It certainly did.










The final presenter of the weekend was a man whose name I had heard many, many times that weekend.  Everyone was talking about Will Gadd.  As his slideshow began, I quickly found out why.  This guy is crazy!  With each new slide, as Will spoke of climbs all over the world, someone would whisper "Dude, that's crazy".  This video shows just what I mean as Will and Tim Emmett climb the never-before-attempted Helmcken Falls in British Columbia, named by Gadd "Spray On".  The following images, taken from willgadd.com, also give you an idea of how he likes to spend his time defying sanity:

Will Gadd certainly has done things that most of us cannot even imagine.  But as he told story after story with a humorous twist, a theme began to emerge, and Will's message is worth repeating.


There is something in the Alpine world called "The List", which Will displayed on the big screen.  It is his list of all the partners and climbers he has known who have been taken by the mountain.  The List is long.  Will Gadd knows, as any climber does, that he is not on The List mostly because of luck, but also because of something he calls "the positive power of negative thinking".

To an outsider, these accomplished alpinists are crazy; who in their right mind would do this?  But everyone I met at The Michigan Ice Fest, while acknowledging the risk, spoke of safety.  People like Will, and all the other presenters at the ice fest, don't just fly to some remote part of the world and start climbing a mountain.  They spend weeks and months researching routes, equipment, weather, rock and ice conditions, and thousands of other details.  Sometimes, even after all this preparation, Will arrives for an expedition, and negative thoughts creep into his plan.  When this happens, Will aborts the climb.  He has learned the positive power of negative thinking, and its how he stays off "The List".

Every single presenter at the Michigan Ice Fest has thousands of stories to tell.  But they also have educations, experiences, and involvement with the communities who welcome them.  I was surprised to learn of the many volunteer efforts they participate in for the environment, the arts, third-world concerns like education and health care, and countless other ways in which these climbers are aware and involved.  They give back so much of themselves.  Alpinists are larger-than-life people who push themselves mentally, physically, spiritually, and never waste a minute of life.  Are they crazy?  No.  They are passionate, purposeful, and peaceful.  In a word, incredible.  I am so grateful to have met them and heard their words, to have felt, just for a moment, what they feel.  I am a better person for it.

If you've been following my story, I promised that I would give you the "Beta" on the Michigan Ice Fest; the information you need before you go.  It's very simple.  Just GO.  Once you register with Michigan Ice Fest (and I suggest you start checking in September for opening registration) you will be given the information you need.  Everything else will fall into place once you get there.

But the same advice holds true for anything.  What makes you different?  What passion is calling?  You have a choice.  You can either keep on getting through life, even with success, or you can live passionately.  It doesn't even matter what your dream is.  You can restore antique cars, make beautiful quilts, be an outdoor adventurer, a writer, a singer, an artist.  You can build an orphanage, or decide to be a positive person who brightens the lives of those around you.  You can supply clean water in third world countries.  Share your faith, teach children to read or ski down a mountain or start a website.  Invent a product.  Read every classic novel.  Anything.  You don't have to walk away from your family and your job and your responsibilities; you can do both.  But you have to commit to doing it.

I have spent the last year carving pieces of time into my busy life to do what I love most; going outside, and writing about it.  There are many obstacles, but I don't give up trying.  I believe that if I start spending at least some of my time doing what I love, everything good will follow.

Despite what my friends (and even some of my family) think, I'm not crazy because I wanted to climb ice.  The experience taught me that I am on the right track to becoming the person I always believed I would be, I just got sidetracked for 25 years.  I left the Ice Fest feeling strong, peaceful, joyful, and with the sense that I had been in the right place, with good people, and for a reason other than climbing.

This summer, I plan to Kayak in white water.  Dude, that's crazy!

Google Images

Wilderness State Park: A Modern Perspective

Unit Map, Wilderness State Park

My previous post gave a brief history of Wilderness State Park in northern lower Michigan, which is not only interesting but plays a role in the modern day park and how campers and day-use guests enjoy the area.  As stated, most of the area was logged or burnt by fire prior to 1900, leaving only one small stand and scattered trees intact.  Yet, through the efforts of Michigan's outstanding DNR, the area has been allowed to re-grow naturally and now stands as it once did, providing its visitors an opportunity to experience a Michigan landscape as it occurred prior to European settlement.

Every time I drive the 8 mile road into the entrance to Wilderness State Park, I run the risk of losing control of my car because I am so busy looking at the landscape.  It is such a beautiful place, and the thought that I am seeing it almost exactly the same way my ancestors saw it takes my breath away.  The many different eco-systems I pass through were not created by man.  They are a wonder of nature and sustain thousands of different forms of life.  That's pretty cool, would you agree?

I prefer camping in the lower campground, where the lucky few who know how to play the DNR Reservation System can reserve a campsite right on the beach.  The first thing I do upon arriving at my site, before I even set up my tent or unhitch my camper, is walk from my site to the shoreline (it's a short walk!) and stare out at Lake Michigan.  I feel like I've come home!  It never ceases to amaze me how the sandy paths leading to the water are not man-made entirely; The wind sweeps channels through the native dune grasses that naturally carve paths.  The paths may be kept clear from use, but they've always been there.

Once I've set up camp - which, if you know me, you know it takes a while to construct my "glampsite" - I go for a walk on the beach.  One of the nice things about the beach at Wilderness State Park is that's it's sandy, sometimes gravelly, but I have never seen a snake there.  They tend to hide on the more swampy beaches, or along reed-filled inland lakes and streams, but you don't see the snakes on the Northern shoreline of Lake Michigan.  This means I can take my shoes off!

In addition to beach walking, there are 22.75 miles of mapped trails to hike or bike, and metal detecting is permitted in the park, though any items found must be reviewed by park staff and may be retained pending further investigation.  I am always mindful that when I walk the beaches and trails of Wilderness State Park, countless artifacts lie beneath the surface.  It would be amazing to find one, but most likely the park staff would keep it.

Because I have a strong Native American heritage, I feel a connection to this land.  Once, when camping at Wilderness with friends, we met up with a guy who had found a piece of driftwood at the park and fashioned it into something he called a "Spirit Pole".  It is an acknowledgment of the people who came long before us, and is believed to honor the native spirits.  He taught me how to make one and I thoroughly enjoyed planting it beside the campfire and believing my ancestors were with us in spirit.

Every morning of my trip I would ride my bike 2 miles east of the campground, on the road with my faithful (and since departed) dog Murphy.  When we reached our destination, I would climb to the top of a small sand dune overlooking the great lake, let Murphy off his leash, and allow him to run for a bit.  He was a good dog and never strayed too far from me, but the landscape in this particular spot is indicative of much of the Lake Michigan shoreline; sandy open dunes with patches of pines and scrub brush growing out of the dune.  Murphy would weave in and out of the pines, chase mice from the brush, and when he had enough, would come sit next to me, sharing the spectacular view of Lake Michigan.  It was the best way to start my day, peaceful and serene, staring at the water with my dog at my side.  These days, I would be unable to do that; my current dog, Rooney, is a Newfoundland and a naughty one at that.  I could not take him off-leash unless I never wanted to see him again and wanted to risk getting fined by the DNR as Rooney happily swam out in Lake Michigan.

Later in the day I would ride my bike east again and hit the Big Rock Trail or the Hemlock Trail at Mt. Nebo.  Both are great trails, and the last time I was there I had ridden for 6 days straight without seeing a snake.  So when my friends and husband suggested a long group bike ride on our last day there, I was pretty comfortable that I could join them without incident.  I wish I had realized that the grass cutter had preceded us earlier that morning.  We rode up to the Pines campground on top of the hill, saw the buildings that the CCC had built almost a century ago, took the Red Pine Trail past Big Stone Creek and the dam, where I held my breath the entire way ever fearful of snakes, and came back out to the road from the Hemlock Trail.  It was a great ride, I was enjoying the feel of forward movement and laughing with my friends.  As we rode on the road, where the grass cutter had trimmed the tall grasses on the sides of the road just that morning, I looked down and saw it.  A dead snake.  BAM! I am riding faster and faster, panic attack hitting me full force, when I look down and see another one.  My husband sees what is happening and is frantically trying to catch up to me, because he knows I am not breathing and adrenaline is pushing me faster and faster.  The only thing that saved me that day was keeping my feet on my bike pedals (not on the ground) and the kindly old gentleman who passed us in his truck heading back to the campground.  He realized something was wrong and turned back.  My husband lifted me into the cab of the truck, put my bike in the back, and the kind man drove me back to the campsite.  I almost made it through the week without disgracing myself!  What really bothered me, though, was those snakes had been hiding there all week as I happily rode my bike, and only came out when the grass cutter came along.  They were stalking me, I just know it.

Some points of interest, other than snakes, at Wilderness State Park are the CCC-built buildings, the dam, and the many trails.  Also, the majority of the many miles of shoreline consist of wide sandy beaches with scattered cobble, backed by one of the best developed and most diverse forested dune and swale complexes in Michigan, with some spectacular wetland areas mixed throughout, which I avoid for obvious reasons.  The beaches provide some of the habitat in Michigan for the federally endangered piping plover.  The piping plover is a beautiful little bird that nests on the beach, and most of the shoreline in Wilderness is designated protected area as a critical habitat for the bird.  Volunteers guard known nests, and the piping plover is the sole reason why dogs are not allowed anywhere near the beach.  People, too, can inadvertently step on a nest without being aware, and destroy the fragile eggs.  The DNR tracks the birds and protects them as they continue to pair and increase their numbers.

Another point of interest does not come from Mother Nature.  It comes from the general store 1 mile west of the park.  One of the things that brings me back to Wilderness is the Saturday morning glazed donut holes, fresh from the oven at the General Store.  I cannot begin to describe how delicious 2 homemade, warm glazed donut holes are.  Okay, usually I eat 4.  But when I've just returned from my morning ride to find 6 warm nuggets waiting for me, it is like heaven on earth.  I will fill my plate, sit in front of a morning campfire, and listen to the waves as I eat my 8 sweet treats.  Sometimes I have to go for an extra long bike ride to burn off the calories from 10 donut holes, by honestly, even a bike ride can't quite remove the feeling of a dozen warm glazed pastries nesting in my stomach.  Make sure you stop in at the General Store on Saturday morning.  You won't regret it!

On that same trip with friends, we came upon a man on the beach who had 10 kayaks that he allowed people to use for free.  I've said it before, campers are the best people who just want to share their love of the outdoors.  We borrowed a couple of kayaks and paddled around the shores of Lake Michigan for hours, being introduced to an activity that would become a particular interest of mine.  Thanks to the stranger on the beach, I now own a kayak, and plan to discover the blue waters of Lake Huron in it this summer.

If you go to Wilderness State Park - and I hope you do! - go for the unique and varied terrain, the history, the trails, the beach, and the magnificent waters of Lake Michigan.  Experience the donuts, the friendly campers and DNR staff, stunning views and abundant wildlife (except the snakes).  Even though you are not allowed to camp directly on the beach, sometimes you can set your tent up pretty close to the shoreline on the right camp site, put a camp chair next to your tent, and breathe.  After you spend your day swimming, fishing, hiking, biking, discovering and learning, sit in your chair, next to your tent, and look out over the water as the sun sets on another beautiful day.  Sweet dreams, everyone!

NOTE:  For more information on the varied habitats and piping plovers at Wilderness State Park, please go to my source, www.michigan.gov/dnr