Indoor Climbing in Minneapolis

Vertical Endeavors, a climbing gym in St. Paul, has recently opened a new location in Minneapolis. The new gym offers a variety of new routes for climbers to try.

I've been climbing at the St. Paul location for almost a year now, and have had fun trying bouldering, top-rope, and lead climbing there. The new Minneapolis location offers all of these, and to make it a little more interesting, the building is significantly taller. This makes for some seriously tiring routes. I tried two top rope routes, one of which I wasn't able to finish due to the difficulty combined with the distance. I was too tired!

In addition to many new climbing routes, there is a large "party room" for groups. There was a large birthday party when I was there, which made it quite busy.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I am happy that I now have two locations to check out, especially as it starts to get colder outside.

Frontenac state park

Recently I spent a night camping in Frontenac state park. We enjoyed great views overlooking lake Pepin, and went on a fun hike.

Our campsite was in a nice spot, with no immediate neighbors, and easy access to a hiking trail. We set up our tent upon arriving, had a few snacks, and went on the hiking trail.

It didn't take long for us to realize the trail had the potential to be dangerous. Soon, we saw several people helping a man up the trail. As they got closer, we realized his ankle was wrapped. Not a surprising injury on a trail littered with leaves. We were careful as we hiked down from our campsite to the lake, heading down several switchbacks. Of course, when you go down, you have to go back up, so we had a scenic workout heading back up the bluff.

I slept in a 20 degree rated sleeping bag, and felt pretty good as it didnt get too far below 40, though we had some rain and wind.

I would definitely recommend Frontenac state park to anyone who wants to get out of town for the weekend and do some hiking and camping.