Memorial Day climbing

Devil's Lake State Park has got to be the premier rock climbing area of the upper midwest; perhaps the entire midwest, at least for the type of climbing I like to do. I'm into moderate trad climbing, and although I'm only leading 5.6 right now Devil's Lake offers lots of opportunity for me to practice and improve. I'm not much into hard, bolted sport routes, otherwise I'd spend more time at the closer Barn Bluff crag in Red Wing.

I was privileged to spend 4 days climbing at Devil's Lake over Memorial Day weekend, finding new gems and revisiting favorite climbs. We didn't get rained out a single minute, even though the forecast was sketchy.

   We spent each night camping and slacklining at climber-friendly Wheeler's Campground and were treated one night to some weather that got severe nearby but only treated us to a marvelous sunset.

The climbs at Devil's Lake top out at 50-100 feet, so we never go very far off the ground, but our spirits soared just the same.