GRAND FORKS, N.D. _ More than the fishing and snowmobile rides and almost as much as the camaraderie, we'll remember the spectacular orange moon rising over the eastern tip of Garden Island on our recent trip to Lake of the Woods.
Perhaps, I thought in that moment, the moon is made of cheese after all.
It was late Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 19, and six of us were packing up for the 15-mile snowmobile ride back to our cabin at Walsh's Bay Store Camp on Oak Island after a day of ice fishing on Lake of the Woods. Fishing had been slow until the last couple hours of daylight, when enough walleyes to keep things interesting moved into the shallow water where we'd set up.
We knew the walleyes would bite _ or at least show up _ in the spot before dark, but after stellar fishing the previous afternoon, we wanted to see if they'd bite or be there all day, and so we set up shallow and were fishing before noon.
They didn't bite. Or show up _ based on the lack of activity we saw on our depthfinder screens _ until the sun dipped closer to the trees.
Even then, the moon overshadowed the fishing.
I didn't know it at the time, but the full moon we marveled at Tuesday afternoon was a "Snow Moon," based on the information I found in a Google search. According to the "Old Farmer's Almanac," the snow moon results from heavy snowfall that can occur this time of year.
We certainly had enough snow to meet that criteria. And since Tuesday's full moon also was a "supermoon," the moon rising over the snow-capped islands of Lake of the Woods had been dubbed a "Super Snow Moon."
By any name, the giant, yellowish-orange moon was spectacular.
Packing up the gear took longer than usual as we stood on the ice, surrounded by nothing but snow and silence, and marveled at the moon as it rose over the eastern horizon.
As one of my friends said as we watched, this is why we fish and spend time outdoors. We were witnessing something remarkable, something special, in a remarkable, special place.
The moon seemed to light up the lake as we snowmobiled back to camp, making the ride even more enjoyable than usual.
No words I can muster would do it justice.
The trip, which had begun three days earlier on the south shore of Lake of the Woods near Rocky Point, had gotten off to a rough start in every sense of the word. The first leg of the 40-plus-mile snowmobile trek had been slowed by mishaps. A ratchet strap came loose on a tow sled, sending part of the week's beverage supply bouncing across the snow. That setback remedied, we bounced our way north, a convoy of seven snowmobiles, on a trail so rough it prevented us from going more than 20 mph.
Ugh, I thought to myself, this was going to be a long, slow ride.
The going improved about 15 miles into the journey after we crossed a pressure ridge near Stony Point and saw the trail in front of us was groomed. We later learned the groomer used by a local snowmobile club to maintain the trail on the first part of our ride had broken down.
Experiencing the difference between a trail that's groomed and a trail that isn't gave me a whole new appreciation for the good work snowmobile clubs do to ensure a smooth ride.
There were other setbacks, including a snowmobile that blew a piston, during the course of our four-day adventure, but we made the ride back across the lake Wednesday afternoon without incident.
As with any adventure, all of us who made the trek across Lake of the Woods will have different memories of the trip; some good, some not so good.
But when the stories are told, everyone will remember the "Super Snow Moon."
