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13th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War

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January 21st through 25th (the war on the night of the 24th), 2004

We arrived in the frozen northwoods early Wednesday evening. The temperature was falling fast. Thursday morning was cold. At 7:30 AM our thermometer read -25.6°F. I heard Hiles had a temperature of -30°F. This was not the best day to start to build our fort but we had brought hats so we were ready. We spent more time than I like to admit heating pans of water to boiling, taking them outside and flinging the water into the air. At -25°F and below It freezes instantly into a cloud of fine ice crystals. During fort construction we took the time to measure the ice. There is 16.75 inches of very solid/cold ice under about 10 inches of snow.. The new snow forms worked well. One structure was build on Thursday, one on Friday and two on Saturday for a total of 4 forts. RP's fort had a stucco like finish due to the amount of water we added to the forms during construction. Mr EMT taunted the others by decorating his outer walls with targets. He also has a back wall to protect his fighters from the wind but that's not all. A first-of-a-kind igloo in a foward position was built in the quest for a tactical advantage. The igloo had an ample entrance and several firing ports. Krispa & Uglor's fort was stark and smooth. Some say they wanted to project a minimalist-teutonic force as to inspire fear and confusion in the other fighters. Others more accurately felt they were to lazy to add any aesthetic improvements. Our fort, the best of all, had giant faux rivets on the front wall, icicle spikes, special firing turret, and a Tiki head. The frightening head had a firing port from it's mouth. The side turret turned out to be a great innovation, allowing both more accurate and higher volume of shots. The special "Electric Stick" made the firing turret all the more feared by the other forts. After all the planning and building it was time...for The 13 Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War While RP was getting ready and I was setting up the camera Mr EMT and KU started the hostilities. After a short while all the forts were firing. The turret (on the right) could really generate a large volume of shots. The igloo (in the center) worked for a while then was abandoned due to poor ventilation. The cold (-11℉) moonless night made for some pretty good pictures. The camera was programmed to take 10 one minute exposures 2 minutes apart. Heat packs were placed near the batteries to keep them alive and it seems to have worked! In the past you could "skip" rockets off the ice to impact the forts but 10 inches of snow would just absorb the shot with a muffled thud. A plane (upper leftish) passed over during the peak of the fight. As the plane passed our lighters grew empty and our fingers cold. The shots became fewer and fewer until it was time to go in before someone lost a finger to the cold. Everyone was happy to be inside. Our fort had took a few hits and the turret was scarred from blow-back. RP's had endured. One rocket was embedded in the right side. Mr EMT's rear wall had a chunk blown out of it. He returned the favor the during the war with a direct hit in KU's right wall. The igloo was scarred on the outside but the inside was great/smokey. The temperature was -5°F during the stick pickup and you would think we would have been used to it by now but no. Soon after we dragged our tired, frozen bodies back home. We'll be back in 2 to 4 weeks. <br><br><br>-Nemo

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