Mission Impossible – but not for Butte men
By SANDY BLANES
Thursday, all day, the locals of Butte worked endlessly on a mission to pull a pickup from the ice and water in the middle of the local lake, Cottonwood Lake, a favorite fishing spot of many around. An amazing act of comradery, ingenuity, and teamwork came together in the hours that followed resulting in recovery and removal of the truck. With a mix of manpower, telephone poles, chains and cable, coupled by a willingness to try the unknown, the men slowly raised the pickup that had gone down in about 10 feet of water and ice.
Wednesday morning, a local ice fisherman (Dana Anderson, Butte), crossing the lake in his pickup to check out another spot, was caught in an area that had been weakened by holes drilled for an icehouse that had been removed. Finding himself on top of the spot with the ice cracking before he knew it, the driver got out before it went down and managed to get to safety.
The icehouses on the lake have been sparse this year, but dotted across the lake, off and on, with the locals catching pikes and perch. The recent warm spell with temperatures in the 30s had started to melt ice, leaving pools and the ice at less than 15"deep in some areas.
