Weekend at the Lake

A couple of weekends ago, Ethan and I went camping with some friends at Devil's Lake in Baraboo, Wisconsin. We had a great weekend hiking, climbing, swimming, fishing, and connecting with God through His creation.

The forecast for the weekend was rain...all weekend. We were very fortunate that we only experienced a few sprinkles and one major shower (which we had advance warning of thanks to some friendly neighbors in the campground).

The first day at the Lake, we decided that the guys would go hiking and rock climbing on some of the bluffs surrounding the lake. We parked at the trailhead and hiked to the top of the bluffs. Alex and Jay started setting up the top rope when I quickly realized that Ethan & I needed to be at the base of the cliff...not the top. One of the guys asked if Ethan could rappel down the 100 foot cliff. I don't think so!

Alex said he thought there was a shortcut up the trail some that would lead to the base of the cliff we were climbing. Russ, Ethan & I started off in search of the shortcut. We never found it, but there were some possible routes if we were simply willing to go bushwhacking. Ethan was game, so down we went.

We got down about 100 feet - slipping and sliding on the mud, holding on to roots of trees - only to find ourselves at the top of another sheer cliff. I left Russ & Ethan there for a minute while I scouted out a new route. About fifty yards to the north, I found a 150-200 foot boulder (talus) field that presented the best option for descending the rest of the bluff face.

Ethan was a little skeptical at first, but he soon got the hang of downclimbing the boulders. There were a few times where Russ & I had to pass Ethan down a drop that was too big for him to climb down. By the end of the climb, Ethan was doing it all on his own and picking out his own routes. It was awesome to see him overcome his fears and enjoy a new challenge. The rest of the weekend, he was looking for any opportunity to climb on some boulders!