survival mode on URL

[Markam Fire]

What do you think Guys?

We took out first trip to URL last weekend w/ my buddy and my brother. Man was it cold. In October, I reserved a sleeper shack from a well known place up there, sight un-seen, and what a mistake that turned out to be.

As the weather turned on Saturday, we made a startling realization that the heater in the shack could not heat the house. As temps dropped out side, we also realized the house was a sieve. Snow blowing in the through the windows, a 2" gap in the door (because it wouldn't shut all the way)separated wall panels, that revealed no insulation, and allowing the wind to whistle right through the walls. The beer and the water we had inside, on the floor was all starting to freeze.

The food situation was starting to look dire as well, when you consider we were planning on eating 2 meals of fish, but could not get the 2-burner cooker in the shack hot enough to cook fish. We tried to boil some brats but it took 3 hours just to get them to a state of warmness.

The attendant visited us about 4 o'clock Saturday and shrugged his shoulders at the issue of our heat and warned us to stay put or risk getting stuck in a snow-drift if we tried to drive out. He also informed us that the plow wouldn’t start until the wind stopped blowing 30-40 MPH gusts maybe tomorrow sometime.

By 6pm we were in full survival mode. the temp in the shack was (maybe) 35-40 degrees, we had shut down on fishing completely, blocked all the holes with as much stuff as possible, began to seal the gaps in the walls and door with paper towel and spare clothes. We took inventory of food. We were wearing everything we could. We tried to keep our feet off the floor since it was at least 15 degrees colder.

Longest night of my life. Cold in the sleeping bag, gloves hat, the whole works. Uncertain of how long we’d have to stay.

When we heard the plow roll by at 12:30 pm Sunday, it took us roughly 12 minutes to pack everything the van and get out of there. We hit the dry land and didn’t slow down until Grand Rapids.

A lot of lessons were learned about survival, and preparedness this weekend,, as well as resort selection. I will never rent a shack sight un-seen again.

My question after all of this, is this par for the course up there? Should I complain? Should I seek a refund? What should have I expected?

[mnhunter 3815]

i would try to get a refund.i would not put up with that.that is uncalled for and putting ppl in danger.i have rented alot of sleepers up there and i have never ran into this problem.most ppl who rent out sleepers up there know how cold it can get and the yput the proper heater in.as for the door not closing sounds like that person didnt take the time to block it up proper.can you e-mail me on which rental it was.cause i was stuck on lotw before but realy didnt care to much.we had plenty of food and beer.and the heater worked to well.

[Eric Wettschreck]

No this is not par for the course. Don't let this experience stop you from fishing URL. Sounds like you got a bad deal, but a large % of the outfitters I know of would not have given that poor of service.

Next time you are in the mood for some sleeper shack action on URL, read through some of the forums and you will see who gives the best service.

[deano]

Sounds like them same thing I had happen to me about 5 years ago. Haven't been back since

[theicehooker]

The reason why I say that is because of the uncaring manner in which he treated you when you did make a complaint of your situation. Why did you stay in the shack?? Did you have cell phones to call the outfitter for a ride in RIGHT NOW!!! get the refund.

[Rooster654]

Please share the name of this outfitter so that others do not have to experience this. After that weekend I certainly would not feel bad about letting people know who this is?

[SrBrits]

Markam Fire,

your screen name says it all, i would have been on fire with the outfitter,

some buds of mine were up last year to a well know place, and the same thing, old shack, poor heater, broken door, the house smelled so bad they almost left, and it looked like the shack hadn't been moved in quite some time, no one took them out to it, just told the house number when they checked in, and then they never checked in at all for two days, and then when they left, and stopped in to complain, the place said they didn't even know that the group was there,hmmmmmmm, the reason they didn't leave, it was a weekend and the chances of getting aother spot were nill and the weather was mild and they planned to move during the day and back to the sleeper at night,the shack had been reserved well in advance also, i know we can't give the name due to posting regs,but it would be nice to throw them out so others with reservations are aware of this.man i would have had a tough time paying for that night out on the ice,seeking a refund would be a good idea, and maybe looking into turning them in for endangering the lives of clients, they need to have some responsibility for your safety. just some thoughts.

[Rooster654]

Sorry new to the site, I was not aware that you could not give names. I suppose I should read the rules. Sorry to hear you had such a bad trip what a joke. I am up on Red Lake almost every weekend from February thru ice out and there is some great fishing to be had on URL!!!!

Good luck on your next URL outing.