Wisconsin Couples Retreat Day 2 - Rock Climbing

From the moment I woke up, I knew that it was going to be an interesting day.  Every muscle in my body ached from the physical activity of the previous day, and I didn't know how much more my body could take, but I was willing to give whatever we had planned a shot with a good attitude.



The agenda for the day was rock climbing. (Honestly, I was not excited, it sounded painful.)  After a nice breakfast in the dining room, we piled into the 15 passenger camp van and drove across the street to the entrance of Devil's Lake State Park where we unloaded and hiked up to the place where our guides had already set up all the ropes for climbing earlier that morning.  The location of our climb was near Elephant Rock and not to far of a hike from the parking lot.  The view was beautiful and it was perfect weather for being outside. 

 

Elephant Rock (but looks more like Alf to me)

 

 

 

We saw the way we were anchored to the bluff AFTER we went climbing.  I'm glad. 

I didn't get too close, but this is another anchor at the top of the bluff.

As you can see, the rocks were covered with pine needles, making it slick.

 

 

We put on our harnesses, got our instructions, and donned helmets and special shoes for climbing.  We had two other guides besides Steve to help, and there were three areas designated for climbing, based on different difficulty levels.  I believe they were rated somewhere between a 5.6-5.9 level in difficulty.

Amanda and I decided to try the middle difficulty course where Steve was helping, and she let me go first.  The rocks were so cold it was difficult to keep my grip in places as my fingers were going numb, and as I felt around it took some time to figure out exactly how to place my fingers, feet and body weight to keep going up.  It was difficult, but at the same time, it was a fun challenge.  I got to one place where I just couldn't hang on any longer with my finger tips and I lost my grip.  Steve pulled on the other end of my line to keep me up and I restarted at that same spot.  Eventually, I made it to the top of my rope, and it was a great feeling! 

I believe this is the rock that moved a little when you put your weight on it.  Scary.



It was such a great feeling being at the top!  Such an accomplishment!

After I was finished, Amanda went up and did a great job.  She looked like a pro as she went and made it to the top as well!

Derrick geared up for the hardest course where most of the guys had been trying, and he got stuck at the last bit before reaching the top.  It was a difficult area where you had to wedge your body and knee into the crevasse before being able to reach the rock above to pull up, so he repelled down.  I tried the same wall and also couldn't get any further, although one guy in our group actually did make it to the top.

No matter the situation, Derrick can never be serious.  We laughed so much.

He was so close.

I got up on the ledge that Derrick was on, but was unable to reach the next area to pull up to.

I tried the last climbing wall (which was rated at the easiest of the three) and struggled at a few places but made it to the top.  After climbing we were all pretty tired and hungry, so we packed up our climbing gear and hiked back up to the top to sit and enjoy a picnic lunch and relax a bit before moving on to the next adventure. 

We ate lunch on these rocks.

The view at the top was great, even though there was a lot of traffic with people coming and going on the trails, and temperature was perfect.  I had seen on my phone prior to getting there that there were a few geocaches around where we were eating, so after I finished my lunch I grabbed my phone and headed off to find my first cache for Wisconsin!  (Yes, I know I have a problem... Derrick reminds me of it every time we travel.  I love the thrill of the find!)  All our friends thought I was a complete geek for getting so excited about a silly geocache, but I had a fun time hunting and found it quickly.  I even helped some fellow cachers locate the geozone so that they could too enjoy the find!

It is crazy that these trees grow in such a rocky area.

This is the area where the geocache was hidden.  Beautiful view.

Every where you looked there were these huge piles of rocks.

After lunch Steve suggested we kayak, canoe or hike.  The majority of the group decided to kayak on the lake and knowing how much fun Derrick had kayaking when we were in Mexico years ago, we decided to go hiking (plus I wanted to see Devil's Doorway, Balanced Rock and see if we could find anymore geocaches in the area).

I'm glad we hiked, it was great to explore without kids for a change, talk, walk and enjoy being a couple.  I'm so thankful to have such a supportive and loving husband.  It was a nice way to spend our 10 year anniversary!

Towards the end of the hike my legs and Derrick's legs were exhausted, so we were thankful when the trail was coming to an end.  We walked back to the cabins (really it was just right across the street from the park gates) and enjoyed sitting for a while before dinner.  The park was beautiful and really a great place to explore.  I would like to go there again sometime with the kids, but in places the rocks were slippery due to the fallen leaves and pine needles, so it was nice not to have to worry about them slipping.

Main area where meals are served.



  

We stayed in these cabins.  The guys stayed in the one on the far right, and the girls were in the one to the right of that.