A miracle on the Clark Fork River

As 2017 comes to a close, we reflect on the highs and lows of our year. For me, one special moment of 2017 wasn’t even about me.

Katrina Nygaard (pictured below) is a math teacher at Thompson Falls High School, and one of my most special friends. Each summer, my girlfriends and I get out on the Clark Fork River for a day float.

During our 2017 float trip, we launched our tubes and giant yellow ducky just below the Cascade Campground above Quinn’s Hot Springs and floated to Katrina’s mother-in-law Kay’s house. Just before the Highway 200 bridge, Katrina stood up and lost her footing. When she got back up, her wedding ring had slipped off. There were a few rapids and a bit of a strong current right there, and we were unable to stop.

It was an emotional, heartbreaking moment. Katrina’s wedding ring was created from family jewelry that had been melted down. And in December 2016, Katrina lost her father after a battle with cancer. It had been hard, and she didn’t need this stress on top of that.

We put a call out on Facebook just in case anyone happened to find a ring floating down the Clark Fork, and thought about taking a metal detector to find it. I was pretty sure that I could find the spot on the Clark Fork, but I kept telling Katrina not to get her hopes up. I just didn’t think there was any chance of finding her ring.

About a month later, Katrina picked up her cellphone and had a missed called. From “Dad Cell.” There was no explanation for it. Her mother back in Maine didn’t have Tod’s cell anymore, it had been 8 months since he passed. It was a just a random, odd occurrence.

The next day, Katrina and I went back to the scene of the ring incident, accompanied by her husband Eric and kids Solveig and Theo. We found the general area with the rapids. Katrina had a strategy. She took a step, looked left, looked forward, looked right. Then she took another step and repeated.

I still don’t know how it happened. But about the second or third time of taking a step and looking each direction, Katrina leaned down and picked her ring up. It was nothing short of a miracle that she happened to find it.

I’d like to think that Katrina’s dad played a role in helping us find her missing ring. It was an incredible coincidence that she had missed that call the day before we went to look for her ring, and it was absolutely amazing that she was able to find it.

No matter what is happening in the world or on the political front, we hope that 2018 brings you miracles of your own.