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	January 8th through 12th, 1997

We made it up on Wednesday night after work and started the long process of bringing the cabin up above freezing. It took longer than you'd think. Not as long as fort construction for the 6th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War would take, but still pretty long.

In addition to snow, ice, and desire, a key part of a good fort is a huge breakfast. The Log Cabin has some of the biggest pancakes in the northwoods. There's enough food in a single order to provide the energy needed to either build great snow walls or feed a small village.

The old forms were hauled out, set up, filled with white, and had water added for a more solid feel. This is the second year we've used this wall building technique and we are beginning to think that a 4 foot thick iced wall may be overkill.

Another fort builder stuck with the old pile and scoop method.

The last fort builder chose a hybrid method by piling up snow on part of a form and then pulling it away. The lack of artistry and effort was best described as a blight on the North end of the lake.

After the final wall was done and the last bit of snow flair added, it was noticed that while adding water to snow makes for some solid walls and flair, it can also en-thicken gloves.

Shortly after dark each participant was gifted with a gross of bottle rockets and a lighter with instructions to cry "Havoc!", and let slip the dogs of war.

The 10 minute exposure of the war gives the event a much more exciting feel than it actually had. Don't get me wrong, it was very entertaining, just not nearly as dangerous as it appears.

Shorter exposures better capture the volume of incoming and outgoing rockets.

It took over an hour to launch most of the 4 gross of rockets. A few were left unlit due to freezing fingers and lighters.

Snacks after the event were pressurized, pickled, well presented, and had almost no nutritional value whatsoever.

The temperature at the start of the great stick pickup the following morning had some delightful wind to go with it.

Our fort had a few self inflicted scorch marks but, for the most part, made it through the battle unscathed.

The story for the second, well built fort, was the same.

It was unclear if the pile of snow that was the third fort had some sort of catastrophic event happen to it in the night or it was just built that way. It was further observed that the occupant of the third fort was the only one actually struck during the war (he was hit once in the boot).

A howling wind from the west made picking up sticks all the more enchanting.

Well, that was instructive, entertaining, and more than a little cold. The actual war just gets funner and funner but it's a lot of work. If this is going to continue to be a thing, better fort forms and lighters that work under 32°F are going to be required. We had to leave right after stick pickup to catch the NFC Championship game in Green Bay. Go Pack!<br><br><br>-Nemo, provider of fine, pressurized snacks after the war since 1992.

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