Vermilion - The Dumb Things We Do

[SkunkedAgain]

Some of my exploits (such as breaking through five inches of ice) have been well-documented on this forum. I thought it would be interesting to hear some of the dumb things that we've all done on/around this lake. They can be funny, serious, life-threatening, just plain dumb, or a combination. I figure that we can all learn a bit while sharing some embarrassing moments.

 

Mine is a split-decision:

 

Dumb Candidate #1) Around 5yrs ago, we all headed up for fishing opener. A buddy that used to co-own the cabin got there first with other guys from the group. There was a few inches of fresh snow everywhere. Nobody shoveled the dock or stairs before I got there. I didn't bother either as I was the late-comer. Throughout the weekend the trampled snow turned into ice with each step. Fast-forward to the day everyone was leaving and my buddy slipped on one of the last steps, falling on the corner of a stair tread, and broke several ribs. As the host, I sure felt like crap for not taking charge of things once I got there and getting things shoveled. It sucks seeing a friend get hurt and knowing it was preventable.

 

Dumb Candidate #2) This summer I took a bunch of nieces and nephews for ATV rides back in the woods. They all had a great time. On the last of five trips, I was a little too excited and went faster along the trail. At one point the edge of my left front tire caught a log and turned the handlebars sharply. In the end, I spent portions of many weekends this summer replacing tie rods and a demolished cv joint on my 2002 Polaris. That was my penalty for being dumb but a good lesson learned.

[delcecchi]

Mine are pretty mundane.   One was only a potential oopsie and the other one was real.      

 

First the potential... Was on a canoe trip to Quetico one spring.   Water was pretty cold, not ice out cold, in the 50s   On the way out we had to paddle across Nym and Batchewung.   I think it was Batchewung, and there was a pretty good stretch of open water, and the wind was blowing.    In our defense, it didn't look that bad, but it was once we got out a little ways.   We kept going.   We made it across but it was very close, had a fair amount of water in the canoe by then.     If we would have dumped, we would have died, since we were a good ways from shore and the water was cold and no help available.   

 

Then the actual.    I was doing something under the soffit of my cabin, so used the section of extension ladder I had to get up there.  Ladder was a little long but I did it anyway.   Didn't fasten the bottom of the ladder in any way.    Splat it went on the deck, me aboard.    Broke my arm, dislocated shoulder.     It is really hard to fish with only your left arm...   Right arm in a shoulder restrainer.

 

 

[Mud Creek Rascals]

Our annual "Winter Extravaganza" trip to the cabin. We don't know Karate, but we do know Ka-razy! 

[JerkinLips]

Oh so many, but I will keep it to my worst 3 on Vermilion (associated photos follow).  Hope I don't win (or lose?).

 

1979 - duck hunting in Stuntz Bay with my friend in a 17 foot square-stern canoe, a decoy cord got caught in the 6hp Johnson prop.  Rather than going to shore to untangle, I attempted to free it on the water by tipping the motor up and reaching back.  When I started losing my balance in this awkward position, I decide to slide into the water rather than tip the entire canoe and my friend.  Finished setting up for hunting and left my friend in the blind while I went back home for dry clothes.

 

1981 - water-skipped my dad's 1973 Arctic Cat Cheetah 340 snowmobile over 70 feet in the Stuntz Bay little narrows.

 

1998 - in late March I went to fish lakers on Trout Lake on an extremely foggy morning.  I was dragging my portable fish house loaded with gear (close to 100 pounds total) on the rear bumper of my 1993 Polaris Indy 440.  I left McKinley Park two hours before sunrise and headed for Canfield Portage.  When I reached a shore I followed the shoreline but didn't find the portage.  This was before I had a GPS and visibility was very limited due to darkness and fog, so I spent the next 1½ hours looking for the portage.  During this search I crossed open stretches of water 5 times going around points while following shorelines.  When it finally started getting lighter I realized that I was on the east end of Pine Island.  I then went around the back side of Pine and made it to Trout Lake well after daylight.  Only caught 5 eelpout that day.

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by JerkinLips
Correct spelling.