Climbing and hiking in Devil's Lake state park (WI)

Devil's Lake State park is located in Southern Wisconsin (Baraboo), not too far from Wisconsin Dells. It is a very popular park, and it is easy to see why when you go there. I had the opportunity to go there recently and did some hiking and climbing while there.

 The Park has several miles of trails, and I took what was certainly one of the most popular in the "East Bluff" trail. There were several named rock features along the way as the trail followed the top of a bluff, offering many great views of the lake. Two of the coolest rock features were called "Balanced Rock" and "Devil's doorway". I definitely recommend this trail to anyone who is thinking about hiking in the park.

Hiking through the park wasn't enough for my friends and I, though, so we went rock climbing early the next day. There is an area along the railroad tracks called "Birthday Rocks" which we climbed. We set up two ropes and had some fun. After a little while, more climbers showed up and one group set up a rope close to us. They were pretty friendly, but it just goes to show that it pays to be early when setting up your climbs at this park. There are hundreds of different routes in the park, though, so I'm guessing that if you look hard enough you will find something.

In addition to climbing and hiking, there are several other activities that make Devil's lake state park a great place to visit. We played some volleyball, had a picnic, and went to the beach to cool off for a while during our time at the park. One thing we didn't do that I would like to next time I'm there is rent a canoe or kayak and paddle around the lake. To anyone looking for a cool park to visit this summer, I recommend Devil's Lake State Park. I had a great time.

Climbing at Interstate State Park (MN)

I have visited Interstate State park more than any other state park in the over the past few years. I've enjoyed hiking and camping there, but until recently, I hadn't gotten the opportunity to go climbing there. I was excited at this opportunity and ended up really enjoying the experience.

 My friend and I got to the park early in order to watch a more experienced climber set up some anchors for top rope climbs. It was interesting to learn about some of the different types of equipment that are used in order to have a safe anchor for climbing. For the routes we were climbing, there were 3 anchors for each rope.

 After watching the anchors get set up, we got some climbing in. Two of the three routes that I did that day were pretty easy, probably around 5.6-5.7 (but I'm no real expert here). They were both right alongside a paved trail that many park goers walk down. I think the hardest part of those climbs was that there were a lot of people watching and that it wasn't obvious where to put your feet vs in the gym when holds are taped. The final route that I did was significantly more difficult, and I found out afterwards that it is rated a 5.10a. I had a lot of fun climbing this route, which featured a long crack. I was able to finish the route, which made me feel pretty good.

 By the time I left, there were a lot of people climbing at the park. So getting there early was a good move on our part. It was really a great day for a lot of outdoor activities, but I couldn't have been happier with the climbing experience. I definitely recommend going there, for the reasons I've listed before, and now because it I learned first hand that it is a great place to climb.

Camping in Lake Maria State Park (MN)

About a month ago I had the opportunity to go camping in Lake Maria State Park, located just outside of Monticello, MN. It is another great park to go to if you live in the twin cities and want to get out of town, but don't want to travel too far. The site we stayed in was a backpack-in site, making it a bit more of an adventure. The trip to the park began with some significant rainfall on our drive to the park, enough so that had we not been planning to meet some friends there (who we confirmed were already there), we wouldn't have bothered to go. This set a bit of a negative tone for a while, as I was camping with someone who was a bit uneasy with getting wet. Fortunately, after about 15 minutes of waiting in the car at the park, the weather began to clear and we hiked to our campsite. There are several miles of trails going through the park, some of which are used for horses. The trail to the backpack-in sites went into the woods and came close to two small lakes. The lakes looked like they would have been excellent places to go canoeing, which maybe we'll have to do in the future. We didn't explore the park too much, though, as the trails were a bit muddy and it felt good to sit by the campfire. Our campsite was in a scenic spot, and I felt like we had the park to ourselves. I don't think I'll have this feeling at a state park for a while now, as the parks are much more popular now and will be into the fall. Lake Maria was a great getaway and I hope to go back someday.

Camping in Willow River State Park

Willow River State Park, located just outside of Hudson, WI, is a convenient park for people who live in the twin cities and western Wisconsin. I first visited in the fall (and wrote a post about it then), and recently visited again. This time I went camping and enjoyed the park even more.

Naturally, I visited the waterfall and did a little exploring around there with my friends. This was the obvious first stop as they had never been to the park, and you don't see waterfalls like that too often in Wisconsin.

The next task at hand was to set up our campsite. We ended up having 3 tents for 5 people (we had 2 person tents). We easily had enough space, and we were fortunate to have a little distance between our campsite and the other campsites in the park. There were still quite a few people walking around, though, so it wasn't as peaceful as some places. Either way, it was a wooded campsite in a nice park, which was pretty good for what we were looking for.

I went on a run a little later in the day, which included a hill that was just brutal. I never stopped, but during part of it I felt like I could walk faster than I was running! It was a paved path, but most of the running I did was on the trails. I think I went about 3-4 miles total.

As the night came, we got our fire going, cooked up some dinner, and told campfire stories. A great way to spend a cool spring night.

Jerimoth hill, the highest point in Rhode Island

I recently did some traveling for work, and found time to visit another highpoint! I drove to Jerimoth Hill, the highest point in Rhode Island. Located just across the Connecticut border, this was an easy highpoint to summit.

I was on my way from Boston to Hartford, and I wanted to visit a highpoint while I was in this area, but I didn't have too much time as the rental car needed to be returned on time. The highpoints of Massachusetts and Connecticut were a bit out of reach, but Rhode Island's wasn't too far out of the way.

So I drove to Jerimoth hill. I saw a sign for it along the road, parked, and walked a few hundred feet down a wooded trail, following signs that were left by a highpointing club. It was very well marked for being a pretty short trail. One would never know you were at the highest point in the state if there weren't signs there. Definitely very different from being on top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii!

I did drive through some very quaint parts of Connecticut on my way back to Hartford, although I didn't stop due to some rain and the need to get the car back in time. I remember several hills and some towns along the way. Maybe I'll come again and explore when I'm not in a time crunch!

Ice climbing in Sandstone MN

Several weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go ice climbing in Sandstone, MN, at an old quarry that was turned into a park, not far outside of the small downtown area.

Once we arrived at the park, the first thing that needed to happen was to put anchors in place. The guide and one volunteer did this while I waited on the ground, 50 feet below. This took a little while, and I was starting to get a little cold, but I was very excited, so it didn't bother me too much.

After the anchors were set up, we were ready to do some top rope ice climbing. There was one other group climbing that day, but there were several routes available to climb along the wall of the quarry.

One side note, in order to ice climb, we had special boots, crampons, ice axes and helmets. On top of wearing snowpants and a winter jacket, this was much less comfortable than the shorts and t shirt with rock shoes outfit that I usually have underneath my harness.

I tried 3 different routes. The first one gave me some trouble, and I had a short fall. The second one was really easy for me, and the third came pretty easy as well.

It was great to finally give ice climbing a try as it was a goal of mine. It was quite different from rock climbing, but definitely provided a similar thrill.

Exploring (some of) the Big Island of Hawaii

I was recently fortunate enough to go to Hawaii. I went to two of the Islands: Oahu, which is the most populous island, and Hawaii,aka the "Big Island". Both were amazing places, but my time on the Big island will be the subject of this post.

I stayed in Kona, which is on the dry side of the island. The weather was predictably great, and the people were friendly and laid back. A common sight was seeing people riding in the beds of trucks. Some of them even had their own chairs! Not ok on the mainland.

As far as adventures go, I made it to the top of Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii. This is my 4th highpoint, and first one outside of the midwest. It wasn't physically hard to get up there, but it did take an SUV with 4WD. Part of the road to the summit is gravel, so they don't want other vehicles going on that stretch of road. Before I got that far, though, I went on another interesting path called "saddle road". Ok, so it wasn't that interesting, but there were several one lane bridges, scary hills, and some pretty good curves.

I also drove to pololu valley, which is on the northern part of the island. It was a beautiful sight, as I saw some waterfalls off cliffs into the ocean. The sands were black there, making this beach unique. It wasn't too crowded, but there were other people there.

For the most part, though, I spent our time on the big island relaxing and going to comfortable beaches in Kona. Each beach offered something a little different, from big waves to sea turtles. It was a great trip and I hope to visit Hawaii again!