Today in 1978, writer Dave Voelker set off on a hike across frozen Lake Erie – well, at least he hoped it was frozen.
Because once you get a ways across a Great Lake, you have to hope you’ll be able to get all the way across.
The thing about Lake Erie is that, big as it is, it’s also pretty narrow.
There are places where the Canadian shore and the American shore are like 30 miles apart.
Experienced hikers can definitely cover that much ground in a weekend, but it can be a little more complicated than, say, 30 miles on hiking trails.
Just ask Walter Lick, who made the first confirmed Lake Erie crossing on foot in modern times.
(There’s evidence that officials with the US Navy crossed the lake while doing reconnaisance during the War of 1812.)
The 19 year old set out from the Ohio side of the lake with food, water, a hiking pole, ice skates and a compass.
He did make it across the lake, but it wasn’t as simple as one foot in front of the other.
Lick said he had to overcome physical barriers like big snowdrifts and wide crevices.
Plus when he was all alone out on the lake, he thought he was hearing voices and imagined people approaching him.
Asked afterward whether he would make the trip again, Lick replied, “not for the world.”
Decades went by before anyone made the trip again, and even the ones who made it across successfully said the journey was a lot.
And not everyone succeeded; there are plenty of stories of people who had to turn back or needed a rescue.
Not a surprise that big ice chunks or terrible conditions or plain old exhaustion might cut a crossing short.
There’s a story of a hiker who needed a helicopter rescue, but as he was getting on board, the copter’s blade struck his hiking pole.
It had to fly back for repairs and send a different chopper.
Dave Voelker’s crossing in 1978 was pretty chill compared to others, but even that one wasn’t easy.
Two very long and busy days of hiking in very cold conditions, with almost nobody around.
Occasionally he walked in the wrong direction, making the long trip even longer.
But he said the nighttime scenery of ice and stars and almost complete quiet was spectacular, and he got a warm welcome from the people who met him on the Canadian side of the lake.
Voelker hadn’t ended up with frostbite or any effects of the winter, but, amazingly, he did get sunburned (!)
Today in 1969, a rough moment for one John Edward Kilty of Manchester, England.
Earlier he had been in court when he thought he heard the magistrates’ clerk ask “are you Kilty?”
He said yes, only to learn later that he had replied “yes” to the question “are you guilty?”
Later, he admitted that during the court proceeding “I had a bit of a hangover from the night before.”
Walking on water: Tales of perilous treks across frozen Lake Erie to Canada (Erie Times-News)
I Walked Across Lake Erie — Alone (Cleveland Magazine)
Kilty as charged (Weird Universe)
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