by
We all play our own way during Southeast Michigan's often-frigid months between Thanksgiving and Opening Day.
But few folks are hardy and intrepid enough to boldly go where Courtney Summerfrost and John Soberal did two weeks ago.
"We do not recommend imitation," posts Courtney Summerfrost, 26. (Twitter photos by Connor Gagne)
As they show and tell in a stunningly illustrated blog post, the young adventurers took stand-up paddleboards onto the ice-dotted Detroit River.
She's a 26-year-old Traverse City photographer and athlete now living in Los Angeles and he's a physical therapist there. During a Detroit visit while she was shooting a talent pageant, they brought a pair of $900 Tahoe Alpine Explorer inflatable boards for a chilly challenge.
They set out Jan. 16 from Belle Isle on a 19-degree morning when the calm-flowing river was iced-over near shore. Summerfrost, who we're guessing adopts that last name online for privacy, sets the scene:
Calm water called to us, but we soon realized there was no place to launch into. With a will stronger than the thinning ice, we sat our boards on top of the ice and started chipping away using our paddles and weight to break ourselves our own path. . . .
This trip was potentially dangerous and we do not recommend imitation. . . . We paddled carefully, close to shore our entire time and took measures to not fall in.
John Soberal and Courtney Summerfrost.
Ultra-brief text at her post lets "these amazing images of our paddle excursion" tell the story. They're shot from the riverside, the MacArthur Bridge and apparently a drone by Connor Gagne of Howell -- who's quite impressive in his own right, as his work and his site show:
Connor Gagne is 17 years old and a senior in high school. Out of school, he is an adventure and travel freelance photographer. . .
Connor specializes in displaying the natural landscape in a unique way and photographing hard to reach locations, capturing the spirit of adventure.
All three participants in the icy river adventure surely show spirit. We shiver from just looking.
For her part, Summerfrost passes along this life advice on Facebook with one of river images: "Find someone that makes you never want to stop adventuring."
We learned of this adventure from a Wednesday morning tweet by Hell Yeah Detroit.
