Sam Cook column: The sheer joy of riding wild ice
When lakes across the north made flawless early ice, Northland residents grabbed their skates to sample this fleeting opportunity.
Written By:
Sam Cook, for the News Tribune | 7:00 am, Dec. 16, 2020 ×
Sam Cook
The word came down from the north 10 days, maybe two weeks ago. It traveled like the wind from cellphone to cellphone. It lit up one Facebook page after another.
“Skating ice up north.”
Black ice. Smooth ice. Perfect ice that had formed atop lakes on brittle, windless nights. Unblemished, shimmering ice in the border country. On Seagull Lake, at the tip of the Gunflint Trail. On Loon Lake, just down the trail. On Burntside and Moose lakes near Ely. Closer to Duluth, Island Lake became a sprawling rink of dark, smooth ice. Pike Lake and Boulder Lake, too.