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Crack open a cold one to salute Swanee’s ice road Swan Song

After about 25 years of plowing a three-lane wide trail dubbed The Ice Road across one of the wider parts of the St. Croix River, Dave “Swanee” Swanson needed a break, as he wanted his truck that is getting rusty to last a few more years. This said, you might need to see him instead with a different kind of vehicle — at the classic car shows held every other Saturday throughout the summer in North Hudson across from Kozy Korner, although he’s scaled back some of that activity, as well.
It’s not exactly a clean break for him, however. He still plowed the icy route once last year, after being hampered by rough conditions, and twice the previous year, to help people who among other things want to get places where they can crack open a cold one in their ice shanty, and also listen to some cool tunes. The locals say that much of the work may be taken over by Andersen Windows, across the river in Bayport.
The road serves lots of winter recreation enthusiasts, especially the ice fishermen, but its main purpose has been enabling workers from the Hudson side to get to Andersen for one of its three shifts, some more easily traveled then others. And oh, there is that small racetrack that’s been set-up nearby.
Around this time of year, Swanson determines when the road is safe to be plowed by talking to more than the state Department of Natural Resources, but also people wanting to get on the frozen river — lots of them. A key place to get information is right at the start of the ice at Ferry Landing Park in North Hudson, where some of the fishers put their shanties only 30 feet from shore, at a juncture where the river already is 30 feet deep. He notes that there is a gas pipeline underneath, a spring on the Minnesota side and also the power plant there that keeps some water open when the boilers are at work. Things like Christmas trees are propped up and used as safety markers, to show where it is safe for his plow and truck to go.
“It’s never the same at any place all the way across,” Swanson said.
One person who knows this is one of his friends from Stillwater, who for years has used his own method and picks either the Minnesota side or the Wisconsin side near Hudson, then ventures out and sets up his shanty.

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