Brave souls take polar bear plunge

It's New Years Eve. You have a few (laughs with friends, that is), play craps (it's casino night) and listen to the best music you've heard in a long time.

So what do you do the next day to top that? Jump in the lake, of course.

It's a little cold, maybe even a little windy, but at least one stalwart lake jumper was not deterred. She was at The Lodge at Suttle Lake with her sister and a friend raring to go. Kathryn Johnson, her sister Patty Capps, and their friend Jennifer Lake were at the lodge after celebrating the new year the night before, just so they could master the art of lake jumping.

After all, they organized the event for the Sisters Village Association series of Winter Wonderland events. They had to be there.

Following a four-course dinner of smoked sea salt and lavender crusted buffalo rib-eye (baked tarragon shrimp stuffed salmon was also on the menu), enjoying casino night and the jazzy music of River Pigs, they traded a late night drive for a stay at the resort. They were now ready for their plunge.

Actually, only one of the three was brave (crazy?) enough to dive into the deep, cold waters of Suttle Lake. The rest simply looked on with a small crowd of well-wishers doing the same. Oh yeah, it looked like fun. Sure we'll do it next year. Uh-huh.

Meanwhile, back in places like Sheboygan, Milwaukee and Jacksonport (all in Wisconsin) people were doing pretty much the same thing, jumping into Lake Michigan, Johnson's former home turf. Admittedly, the 10-degree temperatures in Sheboygan were colder than the 40-degree temps at Suttle Lake, but the results were about the same: cold, wet, teeth-chattering and face muscles contorted in shock.

Johnson's memories of her early days along Lake Michigan were of getting into a hot tub and then jumping in the snow, although she did remember some people sailing down the river on chunks of ice.

Polar bear plunges have been around for hundreds of years, and the reasons for making the plunge vary. One reason that has lasted through the years is to raise funds for charity, and for Johnson it was one reason not to back out in the chill of the icy northern breezes blowing across the lake and through the trees.

"A lot of people dared me to make this plunge, so I collected donations for Polio Plus (a Rotary Club charity)," Johnson said.

She wasn't alone in the plunge. Another pair of brave souls, living up to a heritage of adventure, jumped in the lake with her.

Imagine if your great uncle was famous for spending seven years in Tibet and writing a book about it that later became a movie. You were a competitive athlete. Imagine that your wife was a professional volleyball champion for 15 years and was a 13-time national champion and an Olympic alternate in 1996.

You've paddled a canoe from Oahu to Kauai. You've paddled the Molokai Channel in an outrigger canoe.

What could you possibly do to challenge yourself on New Year's Day in Sisters with your wife and kids? You would, of course, take the Polar Bear Plunge with your wife, and check off your adventure of 2010.

Tom Harrer arrived at The Lodge early to scout out a place on the lake, not frozen over with ice, so he too could dive into the frigid waters of Suttle Lake.

"It felt like pure ice, but these plush towels were worth the dip," his wife Janice said grimacing after she came out of the lake.

Johnson actually swam.

"When I couldn't touch bottom I had to swim," Johnson stated. "Then I started swimming fast, because I thought I might freeze up."

With all the aplomb of a man who could remain cool in icy waters, Tom deadpanned, "I just felt great. It was nice. Exhilarating. This was a good inaugural group," he added.

After being saved by plush bath towels and the warmth of the Kokanee Cabin, they earned their reward: buffalo chili. It was the perfect fortifier to regain their strength before a long nap.

To learn more about other upcoming events sponsored by the Sisters Village Association, visit http://www.thesistersvillage.com.

For more information about events at The Lodge at Suttle Lake, visit http://www.thelodgeatsuttlelake.com.