Ice climber who ‘loved an adventure’ fell into lake during trip with friends, wife says

James Bake “loved an adventure,” his wife, Lauren Bake, said.

The 31-year-old loved “really anything outdoors,” she told McClatchy News. “Fishing, hiking, all that good stuff. Anything that included a lot of physical activity, he was in.”

So when he set off on an ice climbing and camping trip at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan with friends on the morning of Feb. 6, she tried not to worry too much. It was the fourth year in a row he embarked on the trek, and he planned to return Feb. 12.

“He takes care of himself,” she said. “It’s dangerous, it’s ice. There’s always that little bit of worry, but he’s a very capable person.”

On Feb. 7, she got a call from the wife of one of the friends on the trip and learned that he had fallen into Lake Superior. She tried not to panic.

But she had also just spoken with Bake’s brother, a park ranger, who told her about the dangerous water conditions there.

“So I knew that if he was in the water…,” she said. “You have to have hope but try also to be realistic with just the reality of things.”

She said she went through a “full range of emotions,” but then, the U.S. Coast Guard announced on Feb. 8 that it was suspending its search for her husband.

The Coast Guard, which received a report that a climber had fallen into Lake Superior at around 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 7, sent search teams to join efforts by the National Park Service and Alger County rescuers, according to a news release from the agency. Difficult weather conditions prevented an ice rescue team from launching from Coast Guard Station Marquette, but a helicopter from Air Station Traverse City searched into the evening.

A second helicopter continued the search in the morning but was unable to find Bake.

Lauren Bake said that before his fall, her husband’s friends had been sending her pictures and videos of them all hiking in the woods and exploring.

“That’s who he was,” she said. “He had more best friends than anybody. He’s just one of those people that everybody was like, ‘He’s my best friend.’”

Aside from his passion for adventure sports, he had a construction company and could “fix anything,” she said. He was also an active member of the North Life Church in Gaylord, where they lived, she said.

“His faith is a very, very important part of who he is,” she said.

He also loved his family and his many, many friends, she said, and they loved him back.

“Everybody in town knew him, he was the go-to guy for everything,” she said. “He just loved life, I think is the best way to describe him.”

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a national park on the southern coast of Lake Superior. It includes 15 miles of cliffs, 100 miles of trail and 22 campgrounds. It is open year-round and is a winter destination for ice climbing, ice fishing, cross country skiing and snow-shoeing, according to the park.

This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Ice climber who ‘loved an adventure’ fell into lake during trip with friends, wife says."