Neal Vandorsten pictured with his faithful dog, says he will never go on the frozen Lake again without having an ice axe with him. Neal shares his story about falling through the ice on one of the coldest nights of the winter.
Many readers of the Huletts Current know longtime Huletts resident and developer Neal Vandorsten. Neal emailed this story to us about an encounter with the lake he had a few weeks ago that he will never forget.
“Made an illconcieved plan to walk across the lake to an island with (son) Keating and visit some folks we know that live there … It is called Three Brothers Island and sits about a half mile from Bolton. Keating and I put our headlamps and gear on and took the dog and off we went. It was a beautiful night and the lake creaked a little, but seemed firm enough. We arrived at the island and had a nice visit with our friends. On our return we lost our tracks and took a different route.. Keating was ahead, the dog was way off, when suddenly I went thru the ice, into the freezing abyss.
The temp was minus 15 and I couldn’t get back out of the water. Every time I tried to climb onto the ice I was back in to the dark and frozen water. I screamed to Keating to stay away, as I didn’t want two of us to expire, but he came closer and closer. My large winter boots acted like anchors pulling me beneath the black waters, I struggled to get up, again and again. Finally, Keating risked all and made a mad dash toward me and pulled me out. We stayed on our bellies for a bit, then got up and ran off the weak ice toward land. We thought for sure we would both go back in but it was luck that put us on some thicker ice. The trip back to the mainland is a blur as I lost my senses for a bit and next I knew we were on terra firma, but I was thinking I was still in the lake. Keating ripped my top clothes off and put his jacket and gloves on me and I began to get reoriented.. We then walked back to the house. Our only salvation is providence. That was the case that night. Anyway, in the morning I went back to the beach to retrieve some of my clothing and looked out across the frozen lake and saw the big hole from the night before.. I was a little beat up on the face and knees from the ice, but the next day felt pretty good..”